Tough to watch... for all the right reasons

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2016)

This film is tough to watch having lived through the housing crisis and unemployment meltdown of 2007 to present. It inspires righteous indignation and they are a lot of unlikable people that you encounter throughout the film. Don't get the wrong impression, this film is an absolute necessity on raw economics majors and even the fringe behavioral economists.
We now spend a tremendous amount of time discussing the poor leadership and lack of responsibility that we encountered during that time period but nothing of such gross negligence should escape unnoticed (according to the film maybe it didn't).
That it still shows that intelligent people will prosper even from the most ignorant, gross misconduct is somewhat painful to watch.
Generally speaking, these are the films that don't make a lot of headway on the road to the Oscars but the cast is very stellar and is undeniable in their efforts to bring the story life from a very real point of view. Not shocking to me, Steve Carell turns in a superb effort with a highly nuanced performance overall. I wish them all the best on the road to the Oscars.
Having lived through the time period, I never read the book but the last 6 to 10 minutes of the film make your stomach hurt long after the ending. If the point in cinema is to get a reaction or some sort of a dialogue started this movie is highly successful.
This movie may bore the poop out of kids through the mid- to late 20s... but it is a hot weapon against the machine for anybody who is beyond that age range. Historical economic movies don't usually do well at the box office but pick up a hellacious head of steam later on if they're on target and this movie is.
I recommend you catch it in theaters and have an interesting conversation on the way out to the parking lot and beyond.