The Big Short - Adam McKay
The writing team and director bite off a lot here. One story can be hard enough to get right but here they try to tell three. What makes this possible is that all three stories have the same catalyst, crisis and climax. Well that isn’t entirely true. All of these major story beats are triggered by the same events.
The catalyst for all is finding out about how bad the bond funds are and deciding to short them. The crisis is the market crashes but this doesn’t cause a payout for any of the heroes or cause the bond price to move. The climax is when they each get their payout.
This is possible as all of their stories are tied to those three main events. It also helps to have an all-star cast. Even the secondary roles have some big names.
Who are our Heroes?
Michael Burry, Christian Bale (The Dark Knight & The Fighter), runs the private investment firm Scion. Burry discovers the subprime crisis on his own.
Mark Baun, Steve Carell (The Office & Foxcatcher), runs a small team of investors under Morgan Stanley. He plays a fiery, stick-it-to-the-man, investor who leads us through the story as it unfolds.
Charlie Geller, John Magaro (Not Fade Away & Carol), and Jamie Shipley, Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story & American Crime Story), form Brownfield, another investment company. They are new players in the game.
By having multiple characters we get to see important aspects of this story that we wouldn’t see otherwise. But it does mean that everyone loses screen time because of it.
I think they could probably have cut the Brownfield team without losing too much but then they would have had to cut one of the top names and great characters of the film as well.
Top Notch Supporting Cast
Brownfield’s mentor is Ben Rickert, Brad Pitt (12 Years a Slave & Twelve Monkeys). Ben get’s Brownfield a seat at the big players table through his connections. Overall Brad is great in this understated mentor role.
Jared Vennett, Ryan Gosling (The Notebook & La La Land), is the glue that brings the story together. Jared brings the idea of short selling subprime to Mark Baum and his team. He takes them on a tour of the subprime convention.
It is also his prospectus that is found by Brownfield that allows them to be part of the story at all. A great Jared is key to the success of this film. Even though he isn’t the Hero he is key in bringing it all together.
Jared Vennett and Breaking the 4th Wall
I haven’t seen Gosling play anything like this, he inhabits the skin of this arrogant investment banker with aplomb. There are pieces of his character Driver from Drive. But unlike that film where the confidence is understated and buried here it is all on the surface and in your face.
A key part of this movie is getting us to understand financial concepts. They do this to start off with by having Jared voice over the history that setup this industry. There are parts of the film where he turns to the camera and addresses us directly.
How were our leading actors?
So, I hate Steve Carell but I’m thinking that this is more because I hate cringe humour so I cannot stand the work he has done in The Office & The 40 Year-Old Virgin. I have started seeing him pop up in other things like Little Miss Sunshine and then this.
So perhaps he has more of a range than I had given him credit for. And we should give him credit because he is brilliant in this film. He sticks it to the big players with his loud mouth, slap-in-the-face attitude.
Christian Bale is also superb in this film. Michael Burry is way on the spectrum and Christian portrays this with dignity. He makes the social awkwardness real and believable. Other actors could well have turned a lot of this material into comic relief but I am glad that they didn’t.
It is so important that we trust and support Burry and understand him and where his inability to communicate the important information about the subprime bonds comes from. We feel his frustration as well and cheer with him when he wins.
Flaws in the Story
Coincidences happen all the time in real life but they can never happen in film. When they do happen they feel contrived and you thinking – well isn’t that convenient. Brownfield find Vennett’s prospectus in the Foyer of one of the major firms it has all these hallmarks.
But then Vennett voiceover jumps in explaining that of course they didn’t just find the prospectus lying around. I think that this actually makes it worse. They do the thing they aren’t supposed to do and then draw our attention to it in a self mocking way by saying – that’s silly. It begs the question why include it in the first place?
Burry’s story at the start misses some key pieces. He doesn’t really have a refusal to the call to adventure or a mentor. Brownfield don’t really have a refusal either.
Where is Brownfield's Second Act?
So the bulk of any story should be its second act. This is everything from Tests/Allies/Enemies to the Crisis or Trial of the Inmost Cave. This is the section of the story where we see the characters grow as they go on their journey. They meet their allies and face challenges as well as enemies.
Baum and Burry dominate this part of the film. Brownfield are almost completely absent. As such we see them have no growth or development at all. I’m leaning more to cutting them.
Brilliant Scenes
My favourite scenes of this film are Baum calling bullshit. He flies off the handle constantly but it is all well directed and we also hate the scum he is going after.
Burry’s quiet confidence in the face of the big banks when he sets up his short is magnificent. He’s inability to read the fact that they are all laughing at him is awesome. Especially because he is so certain himself and because he was right all along.
