The Big Short

UK Release Date. 22 January 2016
Certification. 15

Running Time. 2 hours 10 mins
Director. Adam McKay
Cast. Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Karen Gillan, Ryan Gosling, Max Greenfield, Hamish Linklater, Brad Pitt, Rafe Spall, Jeremy Strong, Marisa Tomei.
Rating. 60%

Review.

Michael Lewis is acknowledged as a writer of considerable talent, with an impressive bibliography including Liar's Poker, Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a game and The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday machine. Following The Blind Side (2009) and Moneyball (2011), The Big Short was the third adaptation of one of Lewis' books. A graduate of the London School of Economics and a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers, The Big Short was always going to be the most personal. 

Directorial duties on The Big Short were handed to Adam McKay. A surprising choice perhaps considering his previous work - Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgandy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers. For The Big Short is an ambitious project with a heavyweight subject matter - the wanton recklessness and seemingly insatiable greed of the US financial markets. Whilst The Big Short is more assured than the juvenile style of his earlier work, the director can't quite deliver a coherent film.

In The Big Short three interconnected narratives detail how a small group of Wall Street traders and hedge fund managers made a small fortune because they predicted that the housing market's decline would ultimately cause a collapse of bonds and sub-prime mortgages, resulting in an unprecedented crash in the market that would decimate the global economy.

The terminology and economic theories are dry and at times difficult to comprehend. The film is unnecessarily busy and incredibly convoluted. But don't worry, director Adam McKay pauses the action once in a while to explain these confusing products and economic principles. "So, here's Margot Robbie in a bubble bath to explain." I found the continued breaking of the fourth wall as a means of exposition overused and tiresome. 

Nonetheless, the film is entertaining, incisive and intermittently funny. The Big Short is most certainly Adam McKay's most complex and mature film to date. But The Big Short will leave you somewhat depressed, dismayed, even angry that this fraudulent behaviour is routinely tolerated and that greed still pervades in the financial sector today.