In this election year that seems to be defined by economics and economic stature, there could be no better film to bring home then the one that recently arrived on DVD and Blu-Ray, the Oscar winning The Big Short.
Adam McKay co-wrote the script (which won the Academy Award) and directed the film that chronicles the housing crisis of 2008 that practically sent the American economy into a deep depression, as well as the events that led to the great fall. It was an economic collapse that would reverberate across the globe and cause seismic economic tremors across the planet.
The Big Short finds a handful of American economic experts who saw the big bubble bursting and bet against the American economy. They made a fortune off of the great burst, but all the whole were sounding alarms that no one seem to heed — not the financial markets, not the government and certainly not the American people.
The film is a fascinating and remarkably approachable look at how this entire sorrid affair went down and the players involved that came incredibly close to bankrupting the entire United States population, if not for some quick action and controversial bailouts of the big banks that were deemed “too big to fail.” It has produced a system that has not changed all that much and that above all else, is the biggest cautionary tale of The Big Short. It’s scary, but it could happen again.
As this election year finds one person on the Republican side, a billionaire, talking about cutting taxes (as many of his party’s predecessors have done prior) and slashing the regulations that were put in place before the big economic collapse, that candidate is met on the other side by an admitted “American socialist” who is ready to raise taxes and the ultra-rich to help fund things like free college education for all and make access to the American dream more available to the masses.
It’s a fascinating time, and The Big Short is the movie for this moment. As our theatrical The Big Short review delved further, it is a powerful work that features an astounding cast (Brad Pitt, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale) bringing their best to tell this important tale that every American, and person on this planet, needs to see and more importantly, keenly understand. The entire reason this 2008 crash happened is that what was going on was “too complicated” for the public to grasp and thus they were taken advantage of. The Big Short argues — in a way that is easy to understand — how the economics of big banks work, and how we the people, can keep them in check.
The bonus features, like the film itself, are brilliant, comedic and equally tragic in how what goes on in McKay’s film can affect every single person witnessing this great work.
As soon as the film is complete, we have to advise you sink yourself into The Big Leap: Adam McKay. The featurette looks at the famed comedy helmer’s leap to more serious matter and why this passion project became a must for him to make. All of this is gleaned from the cast turning the tables on the director as they talk about his brilliance in bringing this complicated story to life.
Casting was so important to this film and although any one of the big stars that anchor it could helm a movie solo, it was important to get heavyweights in the field of performing to effectively tell this tale. In the Tranches: Casting is a fifteen-minute look through each characters and how each big-name star was brought on board to The Big Short. It’s a fascinating look that we don’t get to see all that much — how a film goes from page to screen in terms of getting the right name to play the part.
For those who want to explore the history of The Big Short even further, don’t miss The House of Cards: The Rise of the Fall. This doc short is a step-by-step recount of how the housing market eventually completely fell apart and cost this country billions. That clearly is the crux of The Big Short, and making it feel real so that the audience could focus on the complexities of the story – that were so imperatively important – came down to the production design and the aspects of the behind-the-camera shoot that made The Big Short feel so real. That’s why Getting Real: Recreating an Era is such a home run. From choosing to shoot The Big Short on film, instead of digital, to the costumes and much more of the feel of the film, Real: Recreating an Era is just one of the brilliant bonus features on The Big Short.
Deleted scenes can be a throw away on many a home video release, but The Deleted Scenes on The Big Short add so much. On one hand, it’s easy to see why they were cut. But on the other hand, the ones involving Carell and Bale’s characters provide an even richer background to who they are as people.
Speaking of those people that make this movie tick, last but not least, we have to spotlight Unlikely Heroes: The Characters of The Big Short. Go deeper with each one of the souls of The Big Short and see how their arc provides the web that weaves together such genius.
Film: A+
Bonus Features: A+