Interesting look at how the rich get richer..

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2016)

Adam McKay making a black comedy about the Wall Street crash? Im already sold. Throw in Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.. how could you go wrong? The film was a very interesting look into the corruption of the government and how the rich take from the poor in order to get richer, it is something we have seen before but with it's own style and the subject matter interests me greatly, so naturally i found a lot to like and enjoy about this film.
First off, i swear marketing wanted us to believe this was going to be the Christian Bale show.. i mean don't get me wrong he did a good job in this film and as always is a joy to watch, but the film wasn't focused around him as i expected. We follow each of these characters in different ways. Ryan Gosling adds the energy in the vein of a Jordan Belfort type character (i will touch on that later), Steve Carrell doesn't provide as much of the comic relief as i thought, he adds more of an emotional core to the story which i was surprised to see from a character played by an actor of his calibur. Don't get me wrong the dude is funny, but he is someone who has suffered a great loss and who is an angry guy but you can see why. In my opinion he gets my pick for best performance in this film. Brad Pitt's character was necessary but with him he just sort of felt like halfway through the movie he randomly joined in, disappeared for a bit and then came back for the finale. But i like seeing him in these Brad Pitt type roles where he is so cool and suave about everything and always so damn likable!
Now, the film does feel like at times it copies a fair bit from The Wolf of Wall Street. The fast-paced opening where Ryan Gosling introduces what is going on to the audience is exactly like how it happened with that film which is the main comparison to Jordan Belfort. That being said McKay employs his own style and we see the fast paced editing take effect where we see certain images pop up and clips etc. But some of it is very random and feels kind of out of place. For example, random celebrities are brought in at random times to explain certain plot points and whilst humorous, it probably would have just made more sense to have one of the existing characters explain it to us. But then again, it would just draw more WoWS comparisons i guess. But the insight into this corrupt world was as interesting as ever and it is sort of set out as a heist movie of sorts with a knockout soundtrack. It establishes the subject matter in it's own right and i liked that, so i will give it props.
In the end, the film entertains a lot more than something like Ride Along 2 and is worth checking out on a Sunday afternoon when you want to relax and chill out. I will say see it for sure. The acting is great, it's captivating and it is a film that keeps your mind working afterwards and that is exactly what i wanted from it, so it didn't disappoint.