Storytelling at its most effective

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2017)

As an aspiring student of finance and obviously one of the many who believes the world is run by corporations and governments colluding, this movie was the perfect entertainment that brought in bouts of humour with cameos and dramatisation when required, the end asking questions in an unfunny way but complemented by a satirical note after.
What's not to like? Chrisitian Bale is just too f***ing good (excuse my French) in his role as the nerdy broker whose meticulousness is well complemented by his non-exuberant non wall street demeanour. Ryan Gosling is convincing as the plagiariser who knew what to do with the golden nugget of info. Steve Carell is probably right after Bale, if we choose to rank performance, that is. His rather unusual role as the uncaped crusader of wall street is interesting, and probably the most unlikely character but nonetheless one of the most pivotal ones as well. Brad Pitt was short and effective, and unremarkable, which is exactly what the story required.
But, again, the cameos. I don't really care if the top critics have a distaste for such stunts, but they were such a welcome footnote in bringing in some lightness to the convoluted jargon of finance. They were the garnish that's just makes the meal flavourful and a sight to behold.
And as a music lover, the end theme was right on the money.
Although, I have to admit, the amount of s**te that year produced, I believe my praise is kind of biased. The big short allowed me to believe in Hollywood again.