THE BIG SHORT (2015)

This comedy/drama was directed by Adam McKay who co-wrote the script with Charles Randolph which in turn is based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis. This film details the mortgage crisis of 2007-2010 brought on by the build-up of the housing market and the ensuing credit bubble. A group of brokers were able to figure out what was going on and devised a plan to bet against the economy and thus make a fortune when the markets crashed. A film that tries to be a high drama with a strong dose of comedy, all the while characters are consistently breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly trying to explain in laymen’s terms the meaning of it all. I found the overall tone of the film did not work and proved more tedious than entertaining, though there are some fine performances to had from Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.