Film: The Big Short

GENRE: Drama

RATING: R for language and sexuality/nudity
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 10 minutes

STARRING: Christian Bale (Dark Knight, The Fighter, American Hustle )

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher); Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love)

DIRECTOR: Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Other Guys)

WRITERS: McKay (Ant-Man) & Charles Randolph (Love & Other Drugs)

PLOT: Four outsiders bet against the banks when they predict the credit and housing bubble collapse.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Mostly watching for nominated performances over the subject matter.

STORY STUFF: An interesting true story. It’s hard to believe that some people could be so corrupt when it comes to money. I’ll admit that I didn’t know what they were talking about at times.  

ACTING STUFF: Some very fun performances. I think Carell shines most as the perpetually angry Mark Baum. Although Brad Pitt gets some great lines when discussing consequences of their actions, I found that he didn’t get much to do.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: Loved that McKay got celebrities to explain mortgage and investments terms so we can all understand. I did like some of the fourth wall breaking as well. I did not like the overall editing of the picture. It’s use of photos and bizarre freezes and close-ups did not work for me. It’s like it was trying to be Wolf of Wall Street when it wasn’t.  

VERDICT: Three stars

SEE IT IF: if you like movies about numbers and corruption like Margin Call or if you want to see more likely Oscar contenders
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Hateful 8, Joy