The Big Short (B-) Movie Review
The Big Short stars a slew of talented people as high-finance workers that predict the collapse of the housing bubble. Ryan Gosling plays the moneymaker, Christian Bale plays the eccentric, intelligent, rich guy, and Steve Carell gives a masterful turn as the angry do-gooder.
From the director of Anchorman 2 comes The Big Short, the surprise of awards season. Its reputation as being a witty, sardonic take on a true story is not completely unwarranted but I'd say I was less smitten with it than others were.
The film has an evident anger that really works for it. Adam McKay, the film's director, directs the The Big Short with this pervasive outrage that translates into a good and palpable sense of energy. There's no doubt that this is dry, dense, and complex subject matter but McKay makes it palatable for the most part.
Surprisingly, much of The Big Short's power comes from its marvelous editing. Editor Hank Corwin weaves an exceedingly interesting portrait of America and American consumerism, which I feel is one the film's strongest areas. The corporate greed is infused with images of American pop culture, rap videos, tourists taking pictures, magazines, etc. The Big Short is a strong argument for a nation based and built on consumerism and it's fascinating to watch.
Boasting one of the best ensembles of the year, The Big Short is all-around well acted. Ryan Gosling serves as our narrator who constantly breaks the fourth wall. Breaking the fourth wall (talking to the audience) in any storytelling art form should be done correctly. It's difficult to pull off in theater and even more so in film. In the medium of film, breaking the fourth wall can be seen as trying to hard or can simply take you out of a film. Here, I think McKay pulls it off quite well. Gosling's character is the perfect vessel for narration because he's the most neutral character in the film.
However, the best performance comes from Steve Carell. I'm a big Carell fan. His comedic work is genius but rarely do we see a dramatic turn from him. I'd argue that he's the best thing about The Big Short. His performance is completely absorbing, charismatic, and energetic. Not only is it so easy for us to root for him as he's the moral center of this tale but his character has these fits of anger that are quite funny, even if you find out that his anger may be rooted in something a little more serious. I promise no spoilers.
But where the film falls short is its endless talk of CDOs and housing bubble details. Sure, these are necessary components to understanding what's happening in the film but scenes of people describing these things to other people get repetitive and uninvolving. This is my main problem with the film. Its ways of constant number crunching and banking terminology can get dry.
And aside from having some strong characters, Christian Bale's character is unnecessary. I understand that he's in the film to be the one who discovers the entire situation that leads to the financial crisis but his character consumes way too much screentime. And if we're going to see his character as much as we do, he should at least be interesting. Instead, he is reduced to a cliche. He's the cookie-cutter, eccentric rich type. We get it. He brushes his teeth while he's on the phone with people. He doesn't wear shoes around the office. We get it.
The Big Short is a bit of a disappointing effort. It gets a lot right but moments of inspiration, verve, and joie de vivre are drowned in repetitive talk of dry banking terminology in which we're told what the stakes are but rarely shown what they are. It's a decent film with generally strong performances, including a possible career best from Mr. Carell, and snappy energy and direction that can get you through the film's monotonous stretches.
FINAL GRADE: B-
MPAA RATING: R for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity
From the director of Anchorman 2 comes The Big Short, the surprise of awards season. Its reputation as being a witty, sardonic take on a true story is not completely unwarranted but I'd say I was less smitten with it than others were.
The film has an evident anger that really works for it. Adam McKay, the film's director, directs the The Big Short with this pervasive outrage that translates into a good and palpable sense of energy. There's no doubt that this is dry, dense, and complex subject matter but McKay makes it palatable for the most part.
Surprisingly, much of The Big Short's power comes from its marvelous editing. Editor Hank Corwin weaves an exceedingly interesting portrait of America and American consumerism, which I feel is one the film's strongest areas. The corporate greed is infused with images of American pop culture, rap videos, tourists taking pictures, magazines, etc. The Big Short is a strong argument for a nation based and built on consumerism and it's fascinating to watch.
Boasting one of the best ensembles of the year, The Big Short is all-around well acted. Ryan Gosling serves as our narrator who constantly breaks the fourth wall. Breaking the fourth wall (talking to the audience) in any storytelling art form should be done correctly. It's difficult to pull off in theater and even more so in film. In the medium of film, breaking the fourth wall can be seen as trying to hard or can simply take you out of a film. Here, I think McKay pulls it off quite well. Gosling's character is the perfect vessel for narration because he's the most neutral character in the film.
However, the best performance comes from Steve Carell. I'm a big Carell fan. His comedic work is genius but rarely do we see a dramatic turn from him. I'd argue that he's the best thing about The Big Short. His performance is completely absorbing, charismatic, and energetic. Not only is it so easy for us to root for him as he's the moral center of this tale but his character has these fits of anger that are quite funny, even if you find out that his anger may be rooted in something a little more serious. I promise no spoilers.
But where the film falls short is its endless talk of CDOs and housing bubble details. Sure, these are necessary components to understanding what's happening in the film but scenes of people describing these things to other people get repetitive and uninvolving. This is my main problem with the film. Its ways of constant number crunching and banking terminology can get dry.
And aside from having some strong characters, Christian Bale's character is unnecessary. I understand that he's in the film to be the one who discovers the entire situation that leads to the financial crisis but his character consumes way too much screentime. And if we're going to see his character as much as we do, he should at least be interesting. Instead, he is reduced to a cliche. He's the cookie-cutter, eccentric rich type. We get it. He brushes his teeth while he's on the phone with people. He doesn't wear shoes around the office. We get it.
The Big Short is a bit of a disappointing effort. It gets a lot right but moments of inspiration, verve, and joie de vivre are drowned in repetitive talk of dry banking terminology in which we're told what the stakes are but rarely shown what they are. It's a decent film with generally strong performances, including a possible career best from Mr. Carell, and snappy energy and direction that can get you through the film's monotonous stretches.
FINAL GRADE: B-
MPAA RATING: R for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity