I've never had a moviegoing experience quite like The Big Short. I'm not referring to it being unbelievably great, unbeliveably bad, or surreal and nonsensical to the point that it's incomprehensible. This is the first time I ever had watching a movie that I walked out feeling woefully uneducated about regarding its subject matter. I can confirm that the film has good acting, writing, and pacing, but the final product may sound like a foreign film without subtitles to people with little knowledge of the event it chronicles.
Taking place from 2005 to 2008 and based on real people's stories, the film chronicles various characters who are among the first to predict the 2008 financial crisis and resulting recession. Michael Burry (Christian Bale), a quirky fund manager, is the first to figure things out upon analyzing various factors in the housing market, and decides to use the situation to his advantage by investing in bets against the then-booming industry. Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), a keen trader, consequently hears about Burry's actions and decides to follow suit, teaming up with troubled financial manager Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and his workers to also profit.
Baum is less easygoing about the situation, though, as he gradually finds out that numerous companies and employees are manipulating the industry and their customers for personal gain, which ends up being a key factor in the collapse. Baum has a vendetta to try and make a difference in the world after suffering a personal tragedy, resulting in him being the most conflicted character when the inevitable begins to happen. The other key characters, two upstart investors named Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock), also pull a similar scheme with help from financial veteran Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt), and experience a similar ethical and emotional dilemma when the full weight of the situation hits them.
The first thing to get out of the way is that The Big Short has been billed as a comedy-drama hybrid, both in marketing and by other critics. Its director, Adam McKay, has previously made nothing but broad comedies like Anchorman, lending credibility to this opinion. Maybe I'm in the minority, but this movie came off to me as a straight drama with the occasional funny line. McKay admittedly showed hints of an interest regarding its subject material with one of the plot points in 2010's The Other Guys, but here he fully embraces it. I don't think he made the film wanting people to just laugh and have a good time, but to expose the underhanded behavior that causes catastrophes like the crash to happen.
The key element I hinted at earlier comes from the fact that, for people who aren't already fairly knowledgeable about the concepts this movie delves into, this is not the most accessible film. The amount of insider terms thrown around that drive the plot forward is very heavy in volume, and even though there are moments dedicated to explaining some key concepts, I still couldn't wrap my head around most of this movie. In terms of character focus, fans of Bale and Pitt should be aware that Bale's subplot gets the least amount of attention, and Pitt is in the movie for about 5 minutes total mostly talking through phones and laptops.
What's unfortunate is that I can tell The Big Short is pretty solid otherwise. The dialog and acting are good and everything's well-shot. There are some clever mechanics, like Gosling's character routinely breaking the fourth wall and narrating to the camera, as well as cutaways to familiar faces like Margot Robbie and Anthony Bourdain directly explaining concepts to the audience in self-contained scenes. This is one of those occasions that I can still consider a film good despite not being able to enjoy it myself.
Even though I had a bad experience with The Big Short due to not being the right audience for its subject material, I still think many people would like it. Teens who walk in because they laughed at Ron Burgundy's goofy antics in McKay's previous work will likely be bored to tears, but the director is clearly branching out with this effort, which I respect immensely. It's ultimately a film for both older audiences and anyone who is interested and knowledgable about the industries involved in it, but I walked away feeling that it's one of the more niche films I've seen in recent memory despite its mainstream cast and presentation.
Final score: 6 out of 10
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