“The Big Short”
can best be described as a Woody Allen film filtered through “The
Wolf of Wall Street.” That sounds like a winning combination to me
but since pretty much all of Woody Allen's films are talky and slow
(even though he's one of my all time favorite directors) it makes
sense that “The Big Short” is riddled with talky scenes of guys
in suits jabbering off financial terms the film is well aware you
don't understand. That's why it even condescends to its audience by
defining words up on the screen for you and uses random celebrity
cameos to explain things you may not otherwise understand. It's too
bad the movie didn't also come with CliffsNotes. The film is about
the “housing bubble” that occurred before the financial crisis
that began back in 2008. It's a ripe area for irreverent, sarcastic
filmmaking unfortunately Martin Scorsese already made a film that,
while not specifically about the mortgage crisis, was basically a
statement on it anyway. Here we have another great ensemble, who
actually give it their all, wasted on an uninteresting and
disorienting script and overly flashy direction.
Director Adam McKay
is known for making silly comedies that star Will Ferrell. You know
the ones: there's Anchorman, and Talledga Nights, Step Brothers, and
even Anchorman 2. And now he's gone and made his own “Annie Hall.”
Except that it's no “Annie Hall.” It's his attempt at more
mature, “serious” filmmaking. He even employs lots of the same
directorial tricks that have been used countless times before. He has
all his characters directed address the audience. There's split
screens and freeze frames and random insert shots that reflect the
times. He even sneaks in his a clip of his own popular internet short
“Pearl the Landlord.” In the end, none of this trickery works.
You can give me the flashiest editing, the zoomiest, shakiest
documentary-like camera but if I don't care about what the characters
are saying or don't understand what they're doing, I’m not going to
have a very enjoyable time.
It's not quite fair
to compare “The Big Short” to “The Wolf of Wall Street” but
it's hard not too. Martin Scorsese is a master filmmaker. He knows
what he's doing. He can take dispicable characters and make them
utterly fascinating to watch. No one in “The Big Short” is
fascinating. Not the strange Asperger's suffering hedge fund guy
played by Christian Bale. Not the overly tan, cocky guy played by
Ryan Gosling. Steve Carrell isn't even funny in this supposed comedy.
That's okay he's been taking on more serious roles anyways. Case in
point his Oscar nominated dramatic turn in last year's phenomenal
“Foxcatcher.” Brad Pitt is here in a supporting role and subplot
that involves bright start ups played by Finn Wittrock and John
Magaro; all of these guys might as well be speaking Swedish, it would
have all made more sense.
It's obvious what
the point of “The Big Short” is. It's an all-star cast with a
meaty script and interwoven storylines that must be like catnip to
actors. And this thing is filled with dudes: blink a few times and
you'll miss Marisa Tomei and Melissa Leo. I think the film is supposed to be a comedy: I definitely didn't laugh. It's a film that certainly
has something to say. I think it definitely does; it's too bad you need a financial degree to
truly get anything out of it. GRADE: C-
Trailer for The Big Short on TrailerAddict.
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