Based on the bestselling non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, The Big Short follows the eccentric group of people who decided to bet against the US housing market in the lead-up to the financial crash of 2007 – 10.
These people include the heavy metal loving and socially awkward hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Christian Bale), the outspoken Mark Baum (Steve Carell), and the young duo of Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock.)
For the most part, the film delivers on the comedic promise of its trailers while at the same time delivering hard facts about the lead-up to the financial crisis. It also boasts some strong performance from its ensemble cast, especially from Christian Bale as Burry.
The unfortunate thing is that what might work in book form appears sprawling and bloated on-screen. Also despite its didactic approach, the film doesn’t ultimately seem to have anything new or interesting to say about the financial crisis or its causes. Sure we’re given plenty of detail and lots of financial jargon – which the filmmakers, to their credit, chose not to dumb down – but we’re still not left anymore enlightened by the end of the film than we were at the beginning.
The Big Short tells an important story. How it tells it though is less than impressive.
Star Rating: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment