Interesting approach which is not wholly successful but is still an engaging and enjoyable film

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 2016)

Putting the story to one side for a minute, this is an interesting film in terms of what it does and how it does it. On the face of it, the film could (and maybe should) be a drama that unfolds the astonishing mayhem, corruption, and negligence of an economic collapse that saw millions lose their jobs and homes. Instead it is mostly a comedic affair that cuts in a Ludicrous music video, and has economic principles explained by a cutaway to an actress in a bubble bath. Along the way it also has room for drama and a mostly factual delivery of the scale of the horror of the events that unfolded and landed us where we remain today.
It really shouldn't work, but it does – and really well. The cutaways, the music, and the editing all add a sense of excess and the erratic, which does suit the subject matter very well. Meanwhile the core character (Carell's) provides the reaction of the viewer – amazed but yet sickened by what he finds when he looks closer at the growth on which we all relied. The other characters are not quite as strong as his, but the film mostly spreads the material well enough so that the starry cast don't seem wasted. Having said that, Gosling is hardly doing his best work, while Bale feels like he is hanging around while his character transitions from being the predictor to being right. McKay directs with energy which does mostly work, but it is really the writers that deserve the credit for balancing the material – and editor Corwin who finds the film in all of the chaos (interestingly, he edited Natural Born Killers, which seems a good fit).
Interesting for the narrative, as well as how it delivers the narrative.