McKay experiencing life after Ferrell

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2016)

I read that this is the first film Adam McKay has done without Will Ferrell as the star. That's an interesting piece of trivia if you think about it. No one could deny he's had a golden run thus far but he's also had one of the funniest men ever to exist in the entertainment industry to write characters for. Until 'The Big Short' that is. Now suddenly he's writing something unlike anything he's done before, a film dealing with the financial crisis of 2008. Try making a comedy out of that they would have said. Well he took on the challenge. Is it a flawless film? Absolutely not. But is it one hell of an effort? Yes, that I'd have to agree with.
The biggest problem McKay must have faced in writing and directing this was the need to get a lot of very technical and very, to put it frankly, boring information across without alienating the audience and making them feel stupid or having them lose interest. He tries some neat little tricks like having celebrities play themselves in cameos that give a metaphorical example for the topic at hand, or even going as far as saying that we as an audience are supposed to feel stupid listening to the Wall Street lingo, because that's the way they want it to be. Does it work? It does, but it only really covers up a small portion of the film. I'd imagine a lot of viewers would have been left very confused as to what was going on at certain points in the film. An unavoidable aspect of the film.
The film relies heavily on its characters to push through a lot of the jargon and create comedic relief so that the whole thing doesn't feel too heavy. While these characters were based on real people, they certainly wouldn't have written themselves in a story like this. Four Hollywood heavyweights Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Christian Bale and Brad Pitt were brought in to bring these characters to life. Bale has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. He was good but I feel he lacked a lot screen time and his performance might be a touch overrated due to a glass eye. The real stand-out of the bunch for me was Carell. He gets far and away the most screen time of the four and uses it exquisitely. He was nominated last year for 'Foxcatcher' in which I didn't think he was overly impressive. I think this year he deserved a nomination more than he did for that. Sadly he missed out, perhaps not enough make-up? Sometime I wonder if that's all the Oscars care about in the acting categories.
In total the film was nominated for five Academy Awards. Bale's one, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Of the five I'd say the only one it has a real shot at (and probably will indeed win) is Best Adapted Screenplay. Every other aspect was very fine, but it feels like one of those cases where the film should just be happy to be nominated for certain things - perhaps Best Director in particular.
All in all though, if you've got the patience and the brain switched on and you're in a bit of a learning mood, it's a film you'll enjoy. If you're just after some lighthearted fun to unwind at the end of the day however, I'd suggest staying away from this one, it's a full on film. It won't be to everyone's tastes, but if it is you'll likely love it.