About – Four men predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their own greed and satisfaction.

The Big Short is based upon the true events of the house market in America. It is cut up between four groups of men. We are first introduced to the man that saw it coming, Michael Burry (Christian Bale). He fixated on the numbers and calculated people’s payments to banks and housing owners for days with no break. Shortly afterwards, we are introduced to Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) he over hears what Michael is doing at a business party and sets up his own fortune but going against other marketers. Jared interacts with a third man Mark Baum (Steve Carell), who doesn’t believe this is going to happen. He needs must see the truth with his own eyes before doing anything rational with millions of dollars. The fourth men are a duo, that got lucky by over-hearing the topic in a lobby, these were; Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro). This duo was helped by one of the best buyer/seller on Wall Street Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt). These are the men that put their money on the line for profits and foreseeing the collapse of the house market.

Hard to follow? No worries! Within the film, we are introduced to Hollywood’s A-listers that break everything down for us to understand the ins and outs of the finance language. We are also addressed by Ryan Goslings character that talks to us directly, with other main characters talking to us too. This type of narrative is key within a confusing storyline like this one, where some people might not understand the terminology. This helped by characters and A-listers is a fantastic way of getting the audience’s attention but also educating us.

Each character and performance was superbly done. You can only imagine what these people were like during this adrenaline but heart-breaking time. Each character was represented accordingly, which brought that normal feeling to the characters and the narrative. As we are familiar with these actors, sometimes it is hard to switch off the thought of them in another film. Whereas, The Big Short disconnects that familiar character and brings us into this intense biography drama.

The Big Short is a very educational film but also humorous within itself. As we already know, this isn’t a happy ending for millions of families caught up in this greed fest. The humour coming from mostly Mark Baum and Jared Vennett, shows that not all money grabbing business men are heartless but also fun and have a heart by thinking of those who are caught up in this mess. The humour element wasn’t done too harshly either, adding this makes us believe and like these characters due to the norm of who they are.

As mentioned previously, The Big Short is a very educational but also entertaining. The way that we are informed by key information is done brilliantly for us to want more and get our teeth into. We are encouraged to learn and read more into the situation or if it is possible for it to happen again. At the end, we are presented with facts about who was arrested and what happened to business/banks on Wall Street. This information was the hardest to take in. Due to the unfolding mess that was presented to us throughout and hitting home with key facts that everyone was aware of.

The Big Short is a superb biography, comedy, drama that replicates the heart-breaking truth behind the collapsed housing market. Without being naïve, of course viewers will be turned off by the terminology that the film uses. The only people that will understand this will be the monsters that carried out this act. However, as a general entertaining, educational film it is up there with some of the best work, Hollywood has created.