The Big Short

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%. (10/03/2022)

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... (01/04/2016)

Bombastic! An atomic bomb. The horror of a mortgage in its most nightmarish form. And again emerges my favorite topic, dumb and irresponsible people. I don’t want to pretend that I understood everything, no way. And Margot Robbie in the bath was more distracting than helpful in explaining, but I have a feeling that fundamentally it isn’t so complicated after all. Good old untruths and lies. In terms of acting, The Big Short is wholesome, from Bale thru Pitt. Everyone wrings out the maximum from their role, Steve Carell dominates again (where was he all those years when dramas were knocking on the door?), he rediscovered himself in this movie. Adam McKay was a surprise. The end of the American dream presented with humor and tension. You have to see it more than once. (02/07/2016)

A Little bit like Margin Call, a little bit like The Wolf of Wall Street, a little bit like John Oliver... Pell-mell, which holds together despite all assumptions and the creators do not play it safe. On the contrary, McKay has a nicely subversive and viewer-friendly approach to a topic that is difficult to grasp. His approach is perhaps too inconsistent (but thanks to this, it is exceptionally dynamic) and where "each of the great cast" steals a show for some time, but as a result, he managed to make a film that sheds light on the financial crisis in such a way that it works both dramatically and comedically (in the best moments even within the same scene) and, in addition, it was understandable even to those who have no idea what financial market is about. (01/16/2016)

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. (02/23/2016)