Interesting and well done

Rating: 7/10 (16 December 2015)

There is a lot of technical information that the audience needs know to appreciate the story and the movie uses many different devices to get us up to speed, from ordinary graphics, to the characters directly addressing the audience, to elaborate skits explaining some of the more obscure financial terms. It is inventive, funny and works well.
There are two very eccentric characters and Christian Bale and Steve Carell do an amazing job portraying them. In fact, all the acting is realistic and intense.
The only problem was, even though I enjoyed how stylish and well made the movie is, I was never sure what it was about. It was not about the financial meltdown and yet it was also not really about the characters that went up against wall Street and won. You saw them in action and it was fun watching them do their thing but you never got to know them. You never get emotionally involved.
They should have ditched the Brown- Hedge Fund story and devoted that time to the other side, showing what was happening at the investment banks and how that culture was driving the process, like in "Liar's Poker". That way you could see the battle from both sides and appreciate what they achieved a little more.
An interesting and entertaining movie done in an ultra modern style and I enjoyed it, but as a story it isn't all there.