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The Big Short

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The Big Short

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Summary

Drama based on a true story, starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. United States, 2006: eccentric Wall Street whizzkid Michael Burry realises that the US mortgage market is heading towards a crash and begins to bet against it. This activity attracts the attention of trader Jared Vennett and idealistic hedge-fund expert Mark Baum who begin to suspect that the system could be about to collapse.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Emma Simmonds

Swinging masterfully between irreverence and incredulity, The Big Short courageously tells the story of the men who saw the 2008 financial crash coming and decided to bet it all on global economic catastrophe. Based on Michael Lewis's non-fiction bestseller, it sees co-writer/director Adam McKay (Anchorman) make the successful jump from broad comedy to incisive satire. With its energetic editing, fidgety camerawork and cocksure humour, it apes the restless swagger of the world of high finance. McKay and co-writer Charles Randolph find fun ways to explain challenging concepts (The Wolf of Wall Street's Margot Robbie talks us through mortgage bonds) and the charismatic cast are uniformly superb; Christian Bale and Steve Carell's hedge fund managers are a bundle of neuroses while Ryan Gosling steals the show as a ruthless trader. Meanwhile producer Brad Pitt is quietly impressive as an ex-banker pulled back into the game. Deftly drawing out the moral compromises, obstructive complexities and unbelievable injustices of this risky business, the film manages to be entertaining and accessible as well as frighteningly credible.

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7.8/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameMichael BurryChristian BaleMark BaumSteve CarellJared VennettRyan GoslingBen RickertBrad PittGeorgia HaleMelissa LeoDanny MosesRafe SpallJamie ShipleyFinn WittrockCynthia BaumMarisa TomeiLawrence FieldsTracy LettsEvieKaren GillanSelena GomezSelena GomezMargot RobbieMargot RobbieMortgage brokerMax GreenfieldVinny DanielJeremy StrongPorter CollinsHamish LinklaterMr ChauByron Mann

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Crew

rolenameDirectorAdam McKay

Details

Theatrical distributor

Paramount

Released on

2016-01-22

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing, nudity

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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