The Big Short

When you start with a story by Michael Lewis, you know you've got just that - a story.  Then you make it into a movie.  Then the movie is written by Adam McKay of Anchorman and The Interview fame.  So you can expect that an objective non-fiction overview is not in the cards.  For that we must say... thanks!

The subprime mortgage meltdown and the traders who made money betting that the downside would occur "the short" are unlikely material.  But a closer looks shows this is the stuff of many Ben Mezrich movies (21, the Social Network [based on his book Accidental Billionaires]).  All have in common the smarter-than-you nerd out to exploit a weakness for their own personal gain.  Add in the Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg figure (a barefoot Christian Bale) and you've got every modern day business fortune movie made.

Inventively done, with visual props and interview vignettes to move the story along (Margot Robbie, Anthony Bordain, Selena Gomez).  Good casting with Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt.  But my favorite parts were the interview at Standard & Poore along with the Las Vegas convention.  I'm sure it didn't happen just that way, but it was a fun way to tell the story.


* * * * of 5