The Big Short (2015) Part 1

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.

From IMCB:

9/10
It almost has you rooting for the U.S. economy to fail!

Critically acclaimed comedy-drama flick; about the financial crisis, of 2007 to 2010, and the clever businessmen who were able to profit from it. The film was directed by Adam McKay (who's helmed such other comedy classics as 'ANCHORMAN', 'STEP BROTHERS' and 'THE OTHER GUYS'), and it was written by McKay and Charles Randolph. The movie stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock, Jeremy Strong, Hamish Linklater, Rafe Spall and Brad Pitt. Along with it being impressively critically rated, the film is also expected to be nominated for multiple Academy Awards (including Best Picture). I found it to be a very insightful, and highly entertaining, movie.

The story begins in 2005, when Michael Burry (Bale), a socially awkward hedge fund manager, predicts the upcoming financial crisis (due to the unstable housing market) and decides to bet against it. Burry creates a 'credit default swap market', much to the dismay of many of his investors. Multiple other businessmen catch wind of Burry's plan, and decide to pursue similar financial ventures. They include trader Jared Vennett (Gosling), hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Carell) and retired banker Ben Rickert (Pitt). The true story follows three different groups of people; as they follow their American dream, of becoming rich (while everyone else's dreams collapse).

The movie is very informative, about what caused the economy to fail (in 2007). It's also very detailed, and educational (in it's explanations), while trying to remain entertaining; at the same time. I still got lost, multiple times, but I also learned a lot too. Besides being politically fascinating, the movie is hilarious, and full of complex characters. It's a lot more insightful, than anything McKay has done before. What's really odd about the film, is that it almost has you rooting for the U.S. economy to fail; just to prove it's likable characters right (I especially like Bale's character, Michael Burry). The film is a must see!