Here’s a movie that wasn’t on anyone’s radar. The Big Short is the story of four financially-minded kinsmen who teamed up in the face of the housing bubble burst that led to financial collapse in 2007-2008. With that description in mind, you might think this movie was made in a similar fashion to HBO’s Too Big To Fail from 2011—but you’d be wrong. This movie is directed by Adam McKay (of the Anchorman movies, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) and stars Brad Pitt, Steve Carrell, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, and Max Greenfield.
If, like me, you saw Brad Pitt and thought “this seems a little bit like Moneyball in tone,” then you’re on the right track. Moneyball and The Big Short are both based on the non-fiction books of author Michael Lewis, who also wrote The Blind Side. Given the accolades that those previous movies received during awards season, it would be no surprise if at least one of the cast and crew of this new movie walked away with some sort of award statue. Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her role as The Blind Side’s Leigh Anne Tuohy, and Jonah Hill was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Moneyball.
When four outsiders saw what the big banks, media, and government refused to, the global collapse of the economy, they had an idea: The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of modern banking where they must question everyone and everything.
With Adam McKay at the helm of a project like this, you can expect a number of laughs to bring a bit of levity to the seriously f’d-up shenanigans that went down during our generation’s biggest financial collapse. In fact, I dare say that the language has been toned down for the theatrical trailer. If a red-band trailer were to surface, I bet that Gosling’s oddly dubbed “there’s some shady stuff going down” might, in fact, be “there’s some shady shit going down.” Everyone knows a modern day financial movie requires, at minimum, 5 curses per half hour. (Or, 600 per minute if you’re making The Wolf of Wall Street.)
The Big Short releases nationwide on Christmas day this year. Are you going to see it? Let us know in the comments.
