Stylish non-fiction film about the 2008 financial crisis

Rating: 9/10 (9 August 2016)

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, this movie is about the mortgage induced crisis of 2008. Although that doesn't seem the most interesting subject matter ever, the makers do a good job maintaining audience intrigue using diverse characters, fast pacing and often cleverly set up scenes.
Contrary to other non-fiction stories, the drama introduced to enhance the story for the big screen actually adds to the movie rather than detract from it. In other words, the moment when everything seems to go wrong for our 'heroes', you actually care rather than roll your eyes. As for characters, the main ones all have a unique, sufficiently fleshed-out personality. There's even a decent character arc with Steve Carell's character.
Some very serviceable character acting is present in this picture, most surprisingly (for me) by Ryan Gosling and Brat Pitt. Christian Bale was even nominated for best supporting actor, and I can see why. He manages to pull off a pretty difficult role, despite his mannerisms sometimes coming across a bit too acted for my taste.
On to the actual meat of the story! The makers understood that it's impossible to completely accurately explain the economic theory behind the crash in a 2 hour film. So instead, they very effectively use several analogies and character reactions to convey the importance of certain aspects. Now it may all be nonsense, I couldn't say, but they seemed to make sense.
Harsh criticism is not scared away from, causing this film to have a pretty devastating ending that will definitely spark some interest and inspire some people to research this important event.
I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 because, like most adapted screenplays, the material could've been streamlined a bit more. The movie would have had a bigger impact with slightly fewer main character 'groups', especially since they hardly every interact anyway. There's Steve Carell's group, including Ryan Gosling, which has nothing to do with Christian Bale for the entire film. Additionally, we have the 2 young start-up guys who meet up with Brat Pitt, and very briefly with Steve Carell.
Recommended for: People with a general interest in world events, who enjoy drama and/or good performances. Not recommended for: People who dislike non-fiction, or those who expect romance or laugh-out-loud comedy.