The Big Short (2015) or, Something Rotten in America

2/11/2016

The Big Short (2015) or, Something Rotten in America

♥♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Political Movie of the Year
+ Best New York Movie of the Year

Four of the top leading men in films today are broad together for Adam McKay's The Big Short

A few individuals connected to the Wall Street stock market connect the dots of a US economy based on an unviable loaning structure and decide to go against what everyone else thinks is common sense in predicting the financial crisis of 2007/08.

The Big Short is based on Michael Lewis' (The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (2006)) The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (2010), adapted by Charles Randolph (The Interpreter (2005)) and Philadelphian master filmmaker Adam McKay (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)), who has created his second masterpiece here, the first being, of course, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).
Big Short tackles the enigmatic material of housing market fraud, subprime loans, credit default swaps and 'CDOs' with unflinching determination. All the economy hardware that seems like it is made simply to throw the average person off gets digested and thrown at us from a superior point of understanding here. We might not grasp it all, but the story will at least make most if not all audiences attain a greater understanding of what the hell went so wrong just under a decade ago.
McKay manages to serve it all with an electric energy and a penchant for character and reality-based comedy that lifts the film to something refreshing and highly original. Making it all rain down on us with thunderous impact is also due to the fine ensemble put together here: Steve Carell (Despicable Me (2010)) gives what is probably his best dramatic performance to date, (and we can without pause talk of an Oscar snub in his case here), and he is partnered with an energetic Ryan Gosling (Drive (2011)), eccentric, Oscar-nominated Christian Bale (American Psycho (2000)) and co-producing, starring Brad Pitt (Moneyball (2011)) in a sideline part similar to the one he played in the also Plan B-produced (his production company) masterpiece 12 Years a Slave (2013). In smaller parts, Marisa Tomei (Christmas with the Coopers (2015)), Rafe Spall (Life of Pi (2012)), Hamish Linklater (Magic in the Moonlight (2014)), Jeremy Strong (Selma (2014)), Melissa Leo (Flight (2012)) and Finn Wittrock (Unbroken (2014)) are all delightful.
Big Short is a heroic feat and unique in the way it blends infectious comedy with pulsating indignation. An exciting and unmissable film.

Related posts:

Adam McKay: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) - Burgundy reigns supreme

Steve Carrell is magnificent in Adam McKay's The Big Short

Christian Bale gives a great characterization in Adam McKay's The Big Short

Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling face off in Adam McKay's The Big Short

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 28 mil. $
Box office: 112.7 mil. $ and counting
= Big hit
[Paramount acquired the rights to Lewis' book in 2013, and production lasted from March - May 2015 in New Orleans and New York. The fairly effective production was also done at an admirably low budget, making the film a hit fast. It was McKay's invention to have Margot Robbie (Focus (2015)), Anthony Bourdain (Far Cry (2008)) and Selena Gomez (Spring Breakers (2012)) do surprise cameos, describing difficult economical concepts for us audiences, something that some see as the film's main ingenuity, (- it's good, but it isn't the main thing, in my opinion.) The film opened to the third-biggest theater average of 2015 in the US, behind Steve Jobs and The Revenant. It has so far grossed 64.1 mil. $ (56.9 % if the total gross) in North America. Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK with 5.9 mil. $ (5.2 %) and France with 5.4 mil. $ (4.8 %). It is nominated for 5 Oscars in the end of this month: Picture, director, adapted screenplay, supporting actor (Bale) and editing. The Big Short is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Big Short?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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2/11/2016

The Big Short (2015) or, Something Rotten in America

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