The story centers on the months leading up to the catastrophic mortgage lending collapse at the tail end of the Bush presidency. I have to say that it was hard not to squirm in my comfy recliner at the sight of greed at full throttle.
The cast is off the charts. Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Marissa Tomei, Brad Pitt and even the wonderful Melissa Leo thrown in for good measure.
Bale plays Michael Burry M. D., the doctor turned investment guy whose genius uncovered the underpinnings of a sure fire collapse of the housing market, and in essence the global economy. I remember Christian Bale starring in a lesser known Spielberg film when he was but thirteen. “Empire of the Sun” (1987) was a terrific film and I marveled at how good this young, unknown kid was and assumed that despite that I would never see him again. Fortunately, I was wrong. Bale is masterful in this role and is sure to receive serious Oscar consideration. Carell is terrific as the boisterous straight talking genius trying to make sense of the whole mess and do the right thing, in time, along the way. Ryan Gosling is solid as another wunderkind who unlocks the keys to the kingdom and sells his way to riches beyond one’s dreams.
McKay jumps back and forth among the disparate groups who are frantically sorting out all of the numbers and trends, often finding indicators that make no sense at all. Billions and billions of dollars are at stake and behind all the piles of cash are real people losing their everything.
Melissa Leo has one scene but it’s a beauty, playing Georgia Hale, a Standard and Poor’s executive. Brad Pitt takes on a fun role as Ben Rickert, a mega rich investment guy turned Colorado organic farmer. A couple of up and coming garage fund managers turn to him for help in capitalizing on the crisis.
There is a lot of technical investment and banking jargon throughout, but every so often they playfully try to explain what is happening in simpler terms. Suffice to say, it was a debacle of biblical proportions and should not have happened. God willing, it will not happen again.
This movie is well worth seeing. Stick to “It’s a Wonderful Life” for your banker fix over the holidays and catch “The Big Short” after New Year’s.
