Based on real events surrounding the finance gurus who predicted the U.S. credit and housing bubble collapse and the inevitable economic chaos of the mid-2000’s, The Big Short tells the story of the guys who saw it coming, who recognized the banks’ greed and shorted their investments.

Stand-out performances by both Steve Carell as the infinitely unlikeable Mark Baum and Christian Bale, as Michael Burry, M.D. the guy who really put it all together. These were the guys who saw what others could not – that the whole mortgage scheme in the U.S. was a house of cards, destined to crash.

Christian Bale is nominated for Best Supporting Actor, which is going to be a tight race.

What I loved about this movie was the way it explained complex banking terms and ideas like sub-prime mortgages and CDOs in ways that Joe Public could understand, in an absolutely hilarious and completely irreverent way. Fantastic screenwriting from Charles Randolph and Adam McKay.

The dialogue is fast, and you need to concentrate to follow along with the jargon and the pace of the film, but it is so worth watching! Fantastically enjoyable, and really well put together.

8/10