A Well Made Historical Drama

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2016)

The 2008 Financial Crisis is, without reservation, one of the defining moments of American history and a seminal life event for those alive at the time. As such, it was just a matter of time before someone made a movie about it. That time has now come, and I must say the film is quite a fascinating piece.
This movie sets out to explain the complicated web of corruption and greed that led to the Crisis. It does this about as well as a movie possibly could--perhaps the one thing that doesn't get as much explanation as it could have was the term "short", which could be a bit of wonkish jargon for some viewers. To "short" a stock is of course to bet against it--this was explained, but with it being in the title and so much a part of the story, it could have been highlighted a bit more.
Still, that one qualm aside, the movie proceeds to tell its tale with with dramatic poise. The acting is superb, with Steve Carrell turning out the performance of his career. Christian Bale also shines, along with the rest of the cast in a tale that is extremely well crafted and a movie that is well produced and directed.
All in all I'm going to give "The Big Short" 9 out of 10 stars. It does what it sets out to do with great success. It is not necessarily the most enjoyable of this year's Best Picture nominees, and that teensy bit of accent on drama at the expense of joy leads me to detract one star. But despite that, this film is a masterpiece, and one that every American should watch at some point.