Fun and deliciously informative about bad-acting investors and the consequences.
The Big Short
Grade: B+
Director: Adam McKay (Anchorman)
Screenplay: McKay, Charles Randolph (The Interpreter)
Cast: Brad Pitt (By the Sea), Christian Bale (Dark Knight)
Rating: R
Runtime: 130 min.
by John DeSando
“Synthetic collateralized debt obligation . . .”
A docudrama about the bank-mortgage failures of 2008 has the potential for being BORING. Not so with Margin Call, which dealt with discovering the bank failures in a pleasingly clear exposition that kept the drama high and the technical explanations simple. With the same writer along for the ride, The Big Short is not quite as digestible about sub-prime mortgage shorting (see above phrase) but clear enough to see some very smart people betting against the mortgages, profiting if they fail.
But that means hoping our fellow Americans will bail out the banks, which they did through massive government infusion of money. Mark Baum (Steve Carrel) is the conscience in a film full of amoral opportunists, most of whom were just living the American dream by siphoning fees from outrageously easy loans. Yet even Mark is not perfect.
Christian Bale as Mike once again shows he is in the top tier of film actors along with Daniel Day Lewis and Tom Hardy. Mike is the one who first spies the sub-prime pattern of weak loans to workers who can't eventually keep up with payments or whose houses have put them "underwater." His sleuthing and profiting represent the ethical dilemma the film so well and regularly showcases: Does anyone care for the little guy while you are cashing in.
What The Big Short has in spades, however, is humor, e.g., “Tell me the difference between stupid and illegal and I'll have my wife's brother arrested.” Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling)
The technical terms mixing with street language are frequently parsed by characters or text that makes sense. Many clear lessons are delivered by pop-cult notables like Selena Gomez and Anthony Bourdon, whose command of the spoken word helps relax the film's more arcane moments.
Super cast, even producer Brad Pitt has a pivotal role as a retired trader. The smart dialogue, effective close ups, and made-to-order topicality offer The Big Short as a fun movie to see while we move into Oscar's season.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
