The Big Short

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2016)

The Big Short, is based upon fact and deals with the people and businesses involved in the recession we had in 2008 as well as the major housing bubble that attributed to this recession and the failure not only of the big major banks, but Wall Street itself, and the many businesses and individuals who were affected because of this. Because this is still such a recent event, I am sure that it is still fresh in everyone's mind who is reading this review. It was all you would see on the television and print news back at the time and to say that it was not a big deal would be a great understatement. Based on the fact of enormous greed and people who had no scruples and to some extent having no clue what they were doing all these businesses were shut down and many people went bankrupt and not only lost their homes, but everything else they had as well. The whole situation was investigated in a fascinating and yet powerfully disturbing way in Michael Moore's documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story. At the time I saw the film, I claimed that it was probably the most disturbing film that I had seen that year, more so than any horror film, or thriller that had come out of Hollywood and I still stick with that statement. With the film adaptation of The Big Short, director and co-writer Adam McKay brilliantly blends fact and real events with comedy and entertainment and brings us one of the most entertaining films of this past year, but also one that will leave you furious and totally indignant with the whole banking system and everyone who was in charge of this massive mistake that was done out of sheer greed and stupidity. I think to a certain extent that you should have some knowledge of Wall Street, or banking rules and terminology to get all the facts as well as the jokes that are so important to the script and to the film itself. Then again, I know that financial literacy is not particularly a popular thing, nor is it something that you are taught in school unless you pursue post secondary education, but I think the film still manages to initiate the uninitiated in the whole world of banking and the endless language that they have seemed to have made their own with their own words and jargon to describe everything in words that most people would never understand (and maybe in a sense that is part of the point of doing so). The film will still make sense to those unfamiliar with all this and prove to be a still vastly entertaining and powerful film experience. Adam McKay who is mostly known for his comedies with Will Ferrell which range from being somewhat decent to sometimes unwatchable has created a brilliant piece of work here. The dialogue is sharp, fast and snappy and the characters are all extremely interesting and captivating to watch. They all have their own set of quirks and eccentricities and yet that is part of what is so fascinating to watch about them. There are also some wonderfully done celebrity cameos here and the use of quick editing and jump cuts is done so well here that is is one of the best uses of editing that I have seen in a film this year. The screenplay with it's razor sharp dialogue and it's blend of comedy and fact does a fantastic job of doing the unthinkable which is making a film on an event like this and making it interesting to viewers who would normally never care about this type of thing and end up being one of the best and most entertaining times at the movie of this past year. The film is funny in many ways, but at the same time it never forgets that the subject matter that it is dealing with is because of what happened to innocent people that it is both tragic and heinous what happened and how these bankers got away with all of this. You will walk away from this film entertained, but at the same time you are furious about it all as well and I mean that strictly as a compliment. The acting ensemble here along with Spotlight and Straight Outta Compton, is some of the best of the year and any nominations for the acting, writing, directing and editing are totally and completely justified. This may not be the easiest watch for those unfamiliar with all this, but I ensure that if you give it a chance you will definitely be surprised at what a great film this was. Alas, if only The Wolf of Wall Street could have been this good. Nevertheless one of 2015's best films.