Great Performances All Round in an Entertaining if Slightly Cluttered Movie

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2016)

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 3.3/5 stars
Adam McKay admirably directs an all-star cast comprising Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt in this surprisingly light-hearted and entertaining take on America's housing bubble collapse of the mid- and late-2000s, which eventually led to a global financial crisis. However, if you're not well-acquainted with the world of finance and several of its nitty-gritty details, the clumpy narrative and salvo of banking gobbledygook in "The Big Short" might cause your attention to drift at at some points in the movie.
Though the film comes across as a tad bloated at 130 minutes, it still impresses quite a bit with all that it packs within its frames. It's evident McKay and his co-writer Charles Randolph try their best to make the banking jargon as easy as possible for the audience to comprehend, even going so far as using the game Jenga and on-screen graphics to describe the fragility and ultimate decimation of the economy. At key intervals, the filmmakers even employ the assistance of guest stars from Margot Robbie to Selena Gomez to 5-star chef Anthony Bourdain in their endeavor to help the common man wrap his/her head around all the complex financial terminology. Unfortunately, this also makes "The Big Short" feel impersonal, and you feel there's too much of emphasis on number- crunching, statistics, office meetings, boardroom talks, and predictions. You end up wishing that some of this care and effort was directed toward highlighting the well-known human suffering resulting from this economic meltdown.
Still, McKay does more than a decent job at offering copious food for thought on how not to live and how intricate, and, more importantly, fickle the financial system really is. Best-known for collaborating with Will Ferrell in comedies like the "Anchorman" films, "Talladega Nights", and "Step Brothers", McKay never forgoes an opportunity to add some much-needed wit and satirical humor to proceedings, which helps in easing out the heavy narrative to an extent.
Undoubtedly, it's the actors' sublime performances that have helped "The Big Short" soar to such heights this awards-season. And, in spite of all the praise, awards, and a third Oscar nomination that's come Bale's way - and he indeed does an exemplary job as he's so often done all through his career - it's Steve Carell who shines brightest out of the extremely talented ensemble cast.