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THE BIG SHORT
[2015, USA - English]

The financial crisis in 2008 remains a baffling notion, for many of us who still think of OCD when we hear words like CDO. Thanks to director and screenwriter Adam McKay, we can now sit through a film about the crumbling of the U.S. housing market and the intense build-up then bursting of the credit bubble without feeling too deficient. The idea of a dramedy about the meltdown of subprime mortgages would just send me back to the lecture halls during university days, but in this case we have cameos like Robbie Margot sipping champagne in a bathtub, Chef Anthony Bourdain talking about fish in his kitchen and Selena Gomez at a Blackjack table, all explaining to us in simple terms about subprime mortgages, bonds and how the system recycles bad loans. The topics suddenly all seem so palatable. Somehow, almost everyone will walk out of the cinema learning quite a fair bit about financial lingos and concepts, and most importantly entertained at the same time.

Based on his previous portfolio (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers), no offense to Will Ferrell fans, I will not even consider watching McKay’s films. Many were in fact surprised with McKay’s seemingly odd departure from his comfort zone when he ventured into the dark dramedy, but it sure panned out well for the forty-seven year old director. It’s absurdly comical, moving fast-paced with solid performances from the cast. Adapted from the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, the film follows three groups of investors who predict the upcoming banking crisis and decide to profit from it by betting heavily against the housing market, or what is known as “shorting” it (hence the title). Socially-awkward and heavy-metal-loving hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Christian Bale) is the augur who first sees the forthcoming catastrophe, and persuades his boss to gamble ridiculously hefty sums of their firm's capital on financial instruments that will pay off when the market collapses. This soon catches the attention of banker Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), a blowhard who in every way reminds you of smarmy and over-confident salesmen. Vennett grasps the thinking behind it and tries to get an investment team led by Mark Baum (Steve Carell) to hitch a ride and cash in on this opportunity as well. Meanwhile, small-player investors Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro) enlist the aid of retired broker Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) to get them into the game by betting against the major banks.

This is one of those films that keeps you intrigued in a subject that would have normally given you yawn-gaping hours in the lecture halls. With the pacy swirl of ego, anger and greed all dramatised for our entertainment, The Big Short most importantly imbues us with intense emotions with its underlying theme of how flexible morality becomes once the notion of easy money enters the frame. McKay is clear in his message where everyone in the financial sector is fraudulent, from big players like the major banks to small-time traders, exploiting the system and no one is a hero. Cynical and bold, McKay even has his actors break the fourth wall, as they narrate and explain directly to the audience. Well paced, but perhaps just a tad too lengthy for me, as the film heavily invests into the "documentary" side of the story, at the expense of a more solid development of the characters, to allow audience to care a bit more for them. All in all a gritty and entertaining piece of work.

Rating: B

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