The Big Short

Can a two-hour lesson in pre-crisis economics, where CDOs are constantly shortened and there is swapping, be dynamic, emotional and fun? A very big bet on uncertainty, but surprisingly yes - a great masterclass of editing, music dramaturgy, (detailed) directing of actors and, of course, the glass eye of Christian Bale... Monetary shots right from the start of the year, write the mortgage in the name of your pooch, buy seeds, invest in water and listen to METALLICA. And have your colon rinsed out regularly. Nothing ends, moving on... (04/01/2016)

For me, the plot of The Big Short revolves too much around mortgages and banks. It lacks the playfulness and lightheartedness of The Wolf of Wall Street, which would be entertaining even if you saw it in Chinese. When the final credits informed us of “Where are they now” in text only, without photos of the characters, the names weren’t enough for me to know who these people were. But the actors were great, and I was the most surprised by Steve Carell, who seems to be transitioning from light comedies into character acting. (07/01/2016)

Immediately after watching the movie - albeit reluctantly and with considerable hesitation - I awarded the film a dirty four stars because there is never enough criticism of greed and spinelessness. However, I am writing this comment sometime later, when the shortcomings of the script have fully revealed themselves. While it does analyze the causes of the economic crisis of the memorable year 2008, it does so in a somewhat cumbersome and less understandable way for the average viewer. The Big Short does not work as a captivating story with charismatic characters, such as in The Wolf of Wall Street, nor is it an intimate drama that exposes human characters to the core in a borderline situation, as was the case in Margin Call. In the realm of movies depicting the nefarious activities of financial institutions and discussing the crisis of trust in modern Western society, this film simply does not belong to the top tier. Overall impression: 60%. (03/10/2022)

Drowned in their own ambitions. The creators want so much to be the authors of a gripping wake-up call that they are almost unwatchable at their core. All the economic ranting lacks the bigger dramatic arc that propelled, for example, The Wolf of Wall Street, which the screenwriters obviously adore (evidenced not least by the ubiquitous and overly aggressive satire). Some personal stories make brief appearances here too, but due to the dilution of attention among the dozens involved, they vanish into oblivion. I understand that if you're going to discuss economics and mortgages for over two hours in a hundred and one different ways, we will have to immerse ourselves in professional terminology, but we still didn't really need that many. The constant dissection of more and more future financial catastrophes is downright tiring in the final act, it doesn't move the plot forward and merely redirects it into a screenwriter's twist it has already taken several times before. It's been a while since I was last this bothered over actors (in this case, the chameleonic Christian Bale and explosive Steve Carell) performing at full steam without managing to interest me in the consequences of their characters' actions. (06/01/2016)

An interesting film on a subject I don't like, but here it is handled in an audience-friendly way and the fine actors make the film quite enjoyable to watch. I was disappointed with Christian Bale, he was a pain in the neck here, and Brad Pitt didn't get much space, but Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell were excellent. I was expecting a more tense finale and was hoping for at least some Boom!, which didn't happen. Still, a stronger 3 stars. The comedy label didn't really suit me here. 65% (14/12/2016)