A Good Script, but Beyond the Capabilities of McKay

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2015)

The Big Short is a comedy film about financial outsiders who foresaw the economic collapse of 2007/2008, and bet on the downfall of the banks. A true-life story, the film outlines three different groups that predicted the collapse, and uses their story to guide the audience through the causes of the recession. This lesson about how the American public was, for lack of a better (or appropriate) word, screwed by the system on Wall St. is the film's real purpose.
The films strengths are in its cast, story, humour, and cameos (used to ease the difficult explanations). The cast is very strong, especially Bale and Carrell. Pitt, who produced the film, does a good job, but doesn't feature heavily in the film. Gosling also does an excellent job in his role, but not quite on Bale's level. Gosling's talent is wasted on this role, and the film may have benefited by giving Bale a larger part. The story is a strength, mostly because it's relevant, as the impact of the recession is still felt today. Though the subject matter is serious, the film is still a comedy, and so laughs are important. The film is very funny, so it's a success on those grounds, but it's not drop dead hilarious, so don't expect a comedy masterpiece. The film's final strength, and perhaps it's most impressive accomplishment, is in its ability to explain the necessary financial concepts without losing the audience. This is achieved by breaks in the action during which the concepts are explain by celebrities in fun, unrelated, cameos. Keeping the audience involved while explaining mortgage-backed securities is difficult, and making these moments entertaining is a true feat.
However, the film's biggest flaw is in parts of Adam McKay's direction. The montage sequences and some of the instances of quick-cutting really annoyed me, taking me out of the film, and I can't think of anything that these would have added. The quotes at key points in the film broke up the flow, and though I enjoyed one of the quotes, they didn't fit with the film. Parts of Baum's back story also felt shoehorned in, and the interaction with the tenant in Florida (though a necessary scene) felt very hammy in its execution. McKay shows some potential working with the film's more substantial subject matter, but his lack of experience in this area shows at time.
Overall, the film does a good job of entertaining, and of educating, it's audience. Fun, informative, and pretty accessible given the complex concepts, The Big Short delivers on most of its promise, but could have improved had McKay had slightly more seasoning before taking on the project.