The Big Short

The Big Short—Directed by Adam McKay/screenplay by Charles Randolph & Adam McKay from a book by Michael Lewis/ starring Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt/rated R/2hr10min

Bifocal Reviews written by Barbara Rich & The Other Guy

(BR) I will be as brief, and polite, as possible.  I never saw a movie I liked less. I have walked out of movies that I liked more.  I would like to apologize to all the actors for their hard work. If I could give negative binoculars in my reviews, this movie would have earned a minus one. As it is, zero will have to suffice.

(OG) Once again we see the beauty of the Bifocal Review, where two people, sitting side-by-side in the same theater, watching the same movie have very different experiences. While I am certain that there are far more entertaining films in the pack this year, THE BIG SHORT is not on the bottom of the heap for me, far from it. Christian Bale’s performance in portrayal of Michael Burry is absolutely brilliant, and Steve Carell surprised me as well. The character of Mark Baum (actually, a representation of the real life Steve Eisman) fit Carell well with the actor’s seeming discomfort with the process of acting, something that has always bothered me about most of Carell’s other performances. In fact, actor-wise, this film is spot-on. Unfortunately, unless you are really, really interested in deciphering the minute complexities of the monumental banking fraud that we allowed to transpire in this country, then there is not much here for you. There is no real character development, no love interests and no real humor that is not at the expense of probably the person sitting beside you in the theater. I am not sure why this film has gotten so many award nominations. Perhaps I’m missing something. I give this movie 2 and ½ binoculars.

Don't forget to look for ALL our reviews and Channel 6 Bifocals segments on L&L Magazine.