Big Short (The)

 

 

 

Genre: financial drama

With: Ryan Gosling (Jared Vennett), Christian Bale (Dr. Michael Burry), Steve Carell (Mark Baum), Tracy Letts (Lawrence Fields), Marisa Tomei (Cynthia Baum), Rafe Spall (Danny Moses), Hamish Linklater (Porter Collins), Jeremy Strong (Vinny Daniel), John Magaro (Charlie Geller), Finn Wittrock (Jamie Shipley), Brad Pitt (Ben Rickert). Cameos by Margot Robbie, Anthony Bourdain, Dr. Richard Thaler and Selena Gomez

Director: Adam McKay

Screenplay: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay (based on the book by Michael Lewis)

Release: 2015

Studio: Paramount Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Plan B Entertainment

Rating: 14A

MBiS score: 8.5/10

 

Nobody Likes Naysayers

 

 

Story-line: in 2005, a money manager based in California takes a critical look at the real estate market and concludes that it is headed for collapse. When he acts on his discovery and bets heavily against the market, the financial establishment mostly disbelieves him but a few investment pros take notice.

Pluses: terrific turns by Ryan Gosling (the crafty Vennett), Christian Bale (Burry the maverick), Steve Carell (the angry, vindictive Baum), John Magaro and Finn Wittrock (the young guns from Brownfield) and other cast members collectively, a cynical and psychologically truthful screenplay that dares to use tough talk, a mountain of facts and gut-wrenching drama to convey its message, inventive, adrenalin-charged direction, high-calibre production values and a motley, driving soundtrack.

Minuses: the movie uses confusing financial lingo but most of it is explained through entertaining cameos; on this issue, my best advice to you is to go with the flow. Ditto for the movie overall, which is so jam-packed and unrelenting that you won’t be able to catch everything.    

Comments: based on the terrible but unfortunately true events that led to the financial crisis of 2008, THE BIG SHORT is especially effective in its depiction of the roller-coaster, pressure-laden and brutal world of traders and money managers. Theirs is a dog-eat-dog business in which they risk their physical and mental health as well as tons of money but the scariest facet of their story is that, even if these workaholics may not be very likeable, our whole economic system – our way of life, actually – rests in their febrile hands. As it illustrates one of those times when the system failed us, Adam McKay’s film begins with hubris and thundering noise and ends with a wreck and Led Zeppelin’s regally slow When the Levee Breaks. If you’re anything like me, you’ll stay glued to your seat, half-stunned and half-horrified, until the final credits have vanished from the screen. THE BIG SHORT is a front-row seat to financial disaster.  

 

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Merchant of Venice (The)

 

 

 

Genre: period drama 

With: Al Pacino (Shylock), Jeremy Irons (Antonio), Joseph Fiennes (Bassanio), Lynn Collins (Portia), Zuleikha Robinson (Jessica), Charlie Cox (Lorenzo), Kris Marshall (Gratiano), Heather Goldenhersh (Nerissa), Allan Corduner (Tubal)

Director: Michael Radford

Screenplay: Michael Radford (based on the play by William Shakespeare)

Release: 2004

Studio: Movision, Avenue Pictures et al.

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.4/10

 

 

“If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge.”

 

 

QuickView

Story-line: in 1596, there is great animosity between Venetian Christians and Jews in general and between Antonio and Shylock in particular. Antonio, a wealthy shipowner, despises Shylock the moneylender while the latter doesn’t take kindly to Antonio’s habit of lending without interest. Their mutual disdain only worsens when a friend of Antonio, Bassanio, needs financing for a risky enterprise and Lorenzo, another friend, feels love for Shylock’s daughter, Jessica.

Pluses: mesmerizing acting by Al Pacino in a pyrotechnic role, worthy performances by Jeremy Irons (as the austere, less conspicuous Antonio), Joseph Fiennes and especially Lynn Collins (whose intonation, dramatic sense and lilting voice make her an ideal Shakespearean actress), a bracing story featuring richly developed characters and dialogues (obviously, with the Bard!), attentive direction that softens the story’s more abrasive elements with touches of comedy, sumptuous production values that lend a distinctive costume and musical theme to each character.

Minuses: some dialogues are quite disparaging to Jews, Christians and Blacks but reflect the socio-cultural context of the times.

Comments: I really don’t know what was Shakespeare’s frame of mind when he wrote The Merchant of Venice but it certainly is a rancorous story. And Michael Radford’s movie version does justice to the play with its full menu of ill-advised dealings, greed, defiance, disguises, romantic intrigue and religious conflict… not to mention that gruesome request for a pound of flesh. To each his own, I guess…  

 

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