There are several key players in the ensemble, and firstly is the talented and yet quirky Michael Burry (Christian Bale), a manager of a hedge fund with self-declared Asperger's Syndrome and a glass eye. He discovers a slight bubble in the widely regarded "stable" housing market that could lead to a total collapse. He decides to bet against the banks at stake, much to their amusement. His research gets out, and surprisingly only a handful of people realize the money that is at stake. From a compulsive trader named Mark Baum (Steve Carell), to a banker from within named Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), they probe deeper into the market of mortgages and loans to see just how clueless everyone really is.
The first half of the film introduces our cast, one by one, with backstories and cutaways and flashbacks. The film moves with a kinetic energy that is just simply miraculous, and on more than one occasion a character breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to us. It's an odd and yet perfect choice in terms of structuring the film. Just as the economy is on unstable grounds, so is the style of the film: disjointed, frenetic, and dizzying.
It's so beyond belief that something as catastrophic as this could happen, and yet it's no wonder why given the CEO's and bankers and 'officials' they meet along the way. Asking lenders about why they would approve a loan without the person having any sort of credit score, Baum is told that the repayment doesn't matter, that they make money regardless. Frustrated, Baum asks his team "why are they admitting all this?" only to realize that they are simply bragging about their wealth and greed.
You would think the film would end triumphantly with the "cha-ching" of large checks falling into the laps of our heroes, and yet it feels even more so like a loss. By betting against the banks, these men made literally billions of dollars, and yet one moment in the film reminds us of the disturbing reality: that for every 1% unemployment goes up, 40,000 people die. By profiting off of a collapsing market, so many more millions of people are out of a job and a home.
For being a first-time dramatic film for director Adam McKay, he navigates the territory with the ease of a master filmmaker. Through exposition and hilariously-random cutaways (here's Selena Gomez to explain the financial meltdown), the extremely dense plot and several interwoven stories are presented with a clarity that I don't think many filmmakers could manage.
Christian Bale as the one-eyed discoverer deserves much praise for his zany and focused performance, as does Brad Pitt, playing a retired banker who feels very much like a conservative family man simply trying to do the right thing. The film belongs to Steve Carell, in an intensely layered performance that borders on genius at every given moment. With a glottal tone in his voice and a dark past, the film is that much better for his tremendous work, and I don't see any scenario that doesn't end with his second consecutive Oscar nomination. As a moral compass through the film, Carell's acting is pitch perfect at capturing the absurdity of the entire story, slowly coming to terms with the evil and corruption that is modern society.
I didn't expect much from "The Big Short," but having seen it I am all the better for it. It has reinvigorated the wonder of moviemaking in an otherwise typical Holiday season Oscar-bait lineup. Out of all the films playing in theaters, this is the movie I would immediately return to see once more.
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