The Big Short

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)

If you have a problem even doing a regular tax return, you're going to get lost in the terminology, and that’s even if Margot Robbie fully gets out of the bathtub. On the other hand, I consider the actors being led with such precision and then having a hundred-and-thirty-minute conversation edited into such a dynamic whole (which is not boring, even if you don't really understand it in the finale) a unique demonstration of directorial skills. This is a decent improvement from the director of shallow comedies. (16/01/2016)

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)

This is a very difficult movie to watch and I believe that I’ll watch it again soon. It’s got a lot of information about finances that I kept getting lost in. And it didn’t even help that there was an insertion here and there that explained some of the terms very nicely. For example, Margot Robbie in a bathtub made for a very pleasant insertion. But the 130 minutes still flew in a blink of an eye and I really liked that about the movie. It told a really difficult topic in a very interesting way. The director Adam McKay went wild with this one. And we can also thank the actors like Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale or Steve Carell, who have taken the story to new heights. And when it comes to Steve Carell, I must admit that the longer I’ve known him, the better roles he keeps getting. The Big Short was a big surprise. It presented the big mess-up that the entire America has been though in a really original way; although, it was a big mess-up for most ordinary people and then just a slight mishap for the selected few who think they rule the entire world. And often, they don’t just think so, unfortunately. As far as the global capitalism goes, this is an eye-opening movie. But just for a little while. Thinking about this for any longer could cause infinite depressions. (23/02/2016)

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)