Onward and upward, Write Reader(s). We now move to the next film on our list of Best Picture nominees- The Big Short. When I saw the preview for this film, I knew it was on my list to see. I loved the trailer, filled with Christian Bale saying ridiculous things, and Ryan Gosling also saying ridiculous things, not to mention Steve Carell and Brad Pitt. I couldn’t go wrong! See the movie, I said. It’ll be fun, I said.
Whelp.
I don’t know how fun the movie was, although there were certainly moments of humor. Instead, what I got was an incredibly terrifying pit in the bottom of my stomach, telling me that nothing has changed and that we’re all doomed. In a light, fluffy way, of course. 
But I’m ahead of myself! You’re waiting for the stats, and I’m happy to give them. The Big Short is a film starring those dudes I listed earlier, playing the four guys (more or less) who managed to predict the housing bubble burst, and subsequent economic collapse of 2008. (It sounds a lot less cheery when I say it that way.) The film was directed by Adam McKay, based on the 2010 book of the same name by Michael Lewis, and is up for five Oscars, including Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale.
Here come the spoilers. Feel free to skip over them if you haven’t seen it.
In 2005, this crazy, ahem, “eccentric” hedge fund manager named Michael Burry (Christian Bale) stumbles upon the fact that the housing market is extraordinarily unstable. Being the genius that he is, he predicts a total collapse in the second quarter of 2007 (he was slightly off) and decides the best way to profit from this information is to buy (make?) a credit default swap. I don’t really know what that means, but basically he bet against the market. He bet that the banks would fail. Naturally, they were perfectly happy to take his money, and were convinced he was insane. Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) hears about this, but rather than laughing all the way to the bank (mostly because he’s already at the bank) he realizes Burry is onto something, and wants to get in on the action as well. One wrong number brings him to the attention of Mark Baum (Carell), who after not believing everything he says for a really long time, decides to bring his hedge fund team in on it as well. In come to young investors who are ready to make it big in the finance world (and I thought this only happened in theatre!) Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) come upon a paper written by Vennett and decide they’re going to play the odds as well. They get help from retired recluse Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) to get in on it, since they don’t have enough money to make it happen on their own, and they set themselves up to make some money. Sure enough, the worst thing possible happens, and everything goes to hell. Everyone involved in the big short makes a giant amount of money, and basically all of them see first hand how horrible capitalism is.
So, back to the pit of despair in my stomach. Don’t get me wrong, this film is not only entertaining but illuminating. They frequently use super random actors and actresses to pause the action and explain important terms to a likely clueless majority. My favorite was watching Margot Robbie in the bathtub, drinking champagne. It’s touches like this that keep this movie from making a person want to gauge their eyes out at the misery of it all. There is great, snappy dialogue, and funny moments, and lots of factual (or seemingly factual) information about the housing market. I definitely learned things. But it’s also heartbreaking. It’s so much harder than I anticipated, watching a ton of people lose everything without having any idea why. (Am I cynical? Why would I have thought it would be easy to watch?) The trailer just made it look so fun and funny! I had no idea I was walking to the scariest movie of the season.
So how ’bout that acting? Well, predictably, it’s great! I love what Brad Pitt is doing with himself, putting himself in movies and not stealing the show. It’s so good! He’s so much subtler than I thought! Christian Bale plays a great weirdo hedge fund manager, certain that he knows more than everyone he’s working with. It’s hilarious, and he proves time and time again how versatile he can be. Or, maybe I just think his version of Batman is the best in history and I don’t know why they’re bothering to make more. I mean, it’s definitively the version. Stop trying. But I digress. Ryan Gosling doesn’t do anything surprising. If you’ve seen him in Crazy, Stupid, Love. with Steve Carell (incidentally, they have the same relationship), then you’ve seen him do this. Not that it’s not enjoyable or amusing; the man knows how to play a douchebag with swagger. He’s just in his wheelhouse, doing the thing he does, and doing it well, and bringing more awesome to everyone else by doing it. It’s all good. Nothing else to see.
Well, until you get to Steve Carell. Steve Carell is magical as his stressed out, insane hedge fund manager with an inability to open up and talk about his feelings. It’s so good. And it’s sort of new! I mean, Carell definitely does odd and neurotic well, we all know that, but it seems that as he continues working in a more serious way, his acting game just keeps growing and growing. The sky might be the limit for this man, and I would much rather see him win something than Bale.
I also really appreciated the cinematography, which is a silly thing to say about a movie that isn’t Avatar or Pride and Prejudice. But somehow the wide shots of the city, especially at the end, gave me pause. The direction was also great, although in a strangely not-memorable way. That sounds mean, let me explain. I can’t put my finger on any one moment and point to what exactly was done to make it exceptional. The movie felt huge and expansive, it felt monumental and life altering, but I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s the subject matter, or the writing, or the direction, but for some reason, I felt as though my understanding of the entire world had expanded, in the best and simultaneously worst way.
Naturally there are a number of other great things about this film. It was moderately light, although they really go for dramatic effect at the end, when they talk about how no one on Wall Street has learned anything from this experience. I left completely disheartened, to be honest, as though I should take all of my money out of the bank and start investing in gold. I guess that’s what a good film is supposed to do- make you think. I don’t know if it has the staying power to take on a film like Room, but it was an extraordinary viewing experience. I would especially recommend it to anyone who is just learning how to deal with money. It certainly had me checking my savings account on the way out.
Live, Love, Learn,
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