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    The Big Short

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    I hate rich people. Ok maybe not all of them. Scrooge McDuck is funny and there are those underdogs that managed to triumph over adversity and make millions honestly that I’d love to befriend. People who sell nebulous concepts to the average Joe knowing full well that something’s rotten, who flaunt their money, who have no idea what it’s like being a regular person, who never have to lift a finger to get what they want, they’re the ones I despise. I bet you find them loathsome too because they hold the rest of us in contempt. All they think about is money. They think it can solve every problem there is. They believe that once you have enough dollar signs in your bank account, laws or ethics no longer bind you. That’s why “The Big Short” is such a great film. This movie hates rich people too and it’ll tell you why you should hate them even more. I say amen to that! It also happens to be very funny and tremendously entertaining, a bonus of course.

    I’ll preface by telling you that the film uses a lot of technical terms, the kind of stuff you’ve maybe heard about but don’t really understand. CDS, CDOs, aaa ratings, rating agencies, etc. Don’t worry if you’re already lost because this movie knows you don’t know. In what I thought was a particularly brilliant and humorous move, the film frequently breaks the fourth wall when something you won’t understand comes up and they explain it to you using diagrams, examples, even celebrity cameos. It’s entertaining you AND educating you at the same time. You might say it’s arming you so you can run home, get your torch, your pitchfork and get the guillotine ready for all those people who need to pay up.

    Based/Inspired on true events and people, the story begins when hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Christian Bale) realizes that banks have turned the U. S. housing market into a house of cards, one that’s ready to collapse. He decides to take advantage of the situation and wager that the market will go bust. If it does, he’s looking at getting 20 times the money he’s putting in. While the rest of the world is unaware of what is coming, he, investor Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), trader Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and young investors Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) play the waiting game. If you think you know what will happen because you were alive at the time, you have absolutely no idea.

    This movie is smart, it’s funny, it’s stylish and it’s fascinating. Odds are you either lost big in this cataclysm that happened in 2007, or you don’t really understand what happened. You know it was bad though, and the idea that a couple of smart guys are going to stick it to the banks and fleece the charlatans? Now that’s sweet. The movie’s got you hooked from there. You see our protagonists set up the pieces and get ready to prey upon the greed, arrogance and stupidity of those smug sons of jackals. You’re rubbing your hands in maniacal glee waiting for the hammer to come down. “Big Short” knows you’re ready to laugh so it gives you plenty of opportunities to do so. The film is quite funny, with this set of smart but decidedly quirky characters moving through a story so crazy it has to be true

    You might be thinking that since this is a movie where people are aiming to make money legitimately, that it’ll be dry. Well there’s humor to keep you invested, but there’s a lot more. This is a really interesting movie to simply watch because it plays like a demented music video that inserts pop culture references and anecdotes to explain plainly what is going on and to give you a timeline of everything that is happening. The financing world is complicated and you probably won’t understand every little detail, but you’ll certainly get enough to follow what is happening. It’s very intelligently put together.

    For me, what pushes this from being a great movie to being one of the best of the year is that it plays with you. You’re lead down a path and once you’re comfortable enough to keep going on your own, you’re stopped dead in your tracks. Then an earth-shattering question is suggested to you. Just when you think you have things figure out, it pulls the rug from under you and reminds you that nothing here is what it seems. Yes “The Big Short” is entertaining, but what happened isn’t some trivial game that happened years ago, where no one knew better. This is happening now and it might be funny, but it’s also a grave situation that needs your full attention. It makes you think. I don’t want to give the impression that it’s a lecture, or that it uses cheap tricks to drive a message. It lets you come to your own conclusions. The thoughts that germinated in my head were deeply unsetting, but I treasure them.

    This movie will make you laugh, upset and angry. It’s a roller coaster of emotions that you won’t soon forget. I’d even call it important. The film’s honesty and how it truly does empower its audience to take action, to inspire change is phenomenal. I can’t think of anyone who I wouldn’t recommend it to. I’m begging you to see it actually because what’s being exposed here “isn’t new”. This behavior needs to be stopped! Not our heroes making the best of a bad situation, but the incoming disaster in the first place. “The Big Short” is riveting and wow! Is it well put together. If this was all fiction it would drive you crazy thinking about it. The fact it’s based on reality though, it would be too much, if it weren’t so fun. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 30.2015)

    10
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    adamwatchesmovies@  31.12.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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