If you told me that Adam McKay, SNL writer and director of
numerous Will Ferrell comedies, would make one of the most biting, interesting,
and incendiary movies of the year, I probably wouldn’t believe you. But here
you have it: a comedy/tragedy, happily missing traditional narrative structure,
featuring multiple protagonists, no real good guys, scheming, wheeling, and
dealing to bet against the U.S. economy. There are frequent laughs as the ensemble
breaks down the fourth wall to explain banking things to the audience. But it’s
not like they’re heroes, right? They’re kind of scumbags. So, it’s morally very
confusing, but also brilliant. Because the filmmakers know that most of us
don’t understand these banking terms and this jargon. But the characters in the
movie do, and they take advantage of this superior knowledge to make fools out
of everybody for their own financial gain. The experience of watching it is
light, breezy and funny. But the ride home is a little different, when we start
to realize how much we all lost during the housing crisis. Purely original and
creative filmmaking by everyone involved, this is guaranteed to garner a best
picture nomination.
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