The Big Short (2015)
91%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
37 wins & 81 nominations total
The Big Short approaches a serious, complicated subject with an impressive attention to detail — and manages to deliver a well-acted, scathingly funny indictment of its real-life villains in the bargain.
The Big Short is like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, it’s filled with financial jargon and witty humor. It’s a movie that manages to make you laugh and cry at the same time, all while teaching you about the 2008 financial crisis. The all-star cast, including Christian Bale and Steve Carell, deliver powerful performances that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll. So, buckle up and get ready for a wild ride that will make you both laugh and cringe at the absurdity of it all.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Datasat
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 10m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 2015 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 15, 2016
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Marisa Tomei, Hamish Linklater, directed by Adam McKay, written by Adam McKay, Charles Randolph, Comedy, Drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Candice Frederick, Sara Michelle Fetters, Max Weiss, Jason Bailey, Alissa Wilkinson, Tara Brady, Brian Eggert, Michael J Casey, Joanne Laurier, Tony Black, Richard Crouse, MPAA rating R, produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Arnon Milchan
Worldwide gross: $133,440,870
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $166,570,015
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 792
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 18,164,669
US/Canada gross: $70,259,870
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $87,703,172
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 816
US/Canada opening weekend: $705,527
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $880,687
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,291
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $28,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $34,951,514
Production budget ranking: 1,058
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $18,821,390
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $112,797,111
ROI to date (est.): 210%
ROI ranking: 611
Ryan Gosling – Greg Lippmann
Christian Bale – Michael Burry
Brad Pitt – Ben Hockett
Marisa Tomei – Cynthia Baum
Hamish Linklater – Porter Collins
Director(s)
Adam McKay
Writer(s)
Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
Producer(s)
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Arnon Milchan
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
37 wins & 81 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (331) | Top Critics (80) | Fresh (294) | Rotten (37)
… it wreaks of self-important pseudo-commentary that is more hollow and garishly humorous than it cares to admit.
September 1, 2017 | Rating: D
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
While The Big Short is hardly uplifting, it still manages to tell a rambunctiously funny tale that’s as informative as it is entertaining, humor walking hand-in-hand with tragedy to ultimately craft a comedy that’s impossible to dismiss.
August 16, 2016 | Rating: 3/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
Adam McKay’s The Big Short plays like an elaborate con, albeit one that uses its powers for good.
June 12, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Max Weiss
Baltimore Magazine
TOP CRITIC
An unlikely but oddly effective mixture of dark comedy, character study, based-on-a-true-story drama, rabble-rousing, and detective story.
April 30, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
As The Big Short goes on, it becomes progressively less funny and more depressing, mirroring the attitudes of the characters.
April 13, 2016
Alissa Wilkinson
Christianity Today
TOP CRITIC
At first, the to-camera segments can be discombobulating, but over two hours, the film coalesces into a brilliantly accessible, scathing account of the financial crisis, and its continuing aftermath.
February 23, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
McKay’s defiant treatment just barely avoids becoming so irreverent that its sense of humor overshadows its significance.
April 25, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Both annoying and effective as McKay manages to simultaneously inform and talk down to his audience.
August 15, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
The filmmakers do their best to bring this crisis and its human dimensions to life.
February 26, 2021
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
Though presented as a jet black, indeed a cold-hearted, satire, it’s concerned with reminding American audiences in particular just how close they came to economic Armageddon.
February 14, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Tony Black
Cultural Conversation
Subtle it’s not, but the director’s use of pop culture images and music to set the scene goes a long way to establish a time, place and tone.
February 3, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse
It manages to illuminate how the economic failure occurred with scathing wit and highly-stylized editing that keeps you on your toes.
January 30, 2021 | Rating: 8/10
Nicole Ackman
Next Best Picture…
Plot
Three separate but parallel stories of the U.S mortgage housing crisis of 2005 are told. Michael Burry, an eccentric ex-physician turned one-eyed Scion Capital hedge fund manager, has traded traditional office attire for shorts, bare feet and a Supercuts haircut. He believes that the US housing market is built on a bubble that will burst within the next few years. Autonomy within the company allows Burry to do largely as he pleases, so Burry proceeds to bet against the housing market with the banks, who are more than happy to accept his proposal for something that has never happened in American history. The banks believe that Burry is a crackpot and therefore are confident in that they will win the deal. Jared Vennett with Deutschebank gets wind of what Burry is doing and, as an investor believes he too can cash in on Burry’s beliefs. An errant telephone call to FrontPoint Partners gets this information into the hands of Mark Baum, an idealist who is fed up with the corruption in the financial industry. Baum and his associates, who work at an arms length under Morgan Stanley, decide to join forces with Vennett despite not totally trusting him. In addition to Burry’s information, they further believe that most of the mortgages are overrated by the bond agencies, with the banks collating all the sub-prime mortgages under AAA packages. Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley, who are minor players in a $30 million start-up garage company called Brownfield, get a hold of Vennett’s prospectus on the matter. Wanting in on the action but not having the official clout to play, they decide to call an old “friend”, retired investment banker Ben Rickert, to help out. All three of these groups work on the premise that the banks are stupid and don’t know what’s going on, while for them to win, the general economy has to lose, which means the suffering of the general investor who trusts the financial institutions. That latter aspect may not sit well with Baum. Some of these assumptions may be incorrect and may be far more manipulative than they could have ever imagined, which in turn may throw curves into the process.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Steve Carell steals the show in The Big Short, according to Fresh Kernels’ critic reviews.
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