While the trailer plays out like a somewhat tamed version of ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’, the cast for ‘The Big Short’ is so good its potential for entertainment should be fool proof.
Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, and Steve Carell in the same movie. Talking. Communicating with each other. Acting opposite each other. Did us movie lovers just get hit by a truck and go to a better place? No, apparently these things are possible in real life, as the debut trailer for ‘The Big Short’ shows. How fitting though that the film is due for release in the United States on Christmas Day this year. That’s one star-powered present.
‘The Big Short’ is based on the non-fiction novel by Michael Lewis and tells the story of some of the men who predicted and profited from the eventual global financial crisis in 2007-2010. It highlights the type of character it takes to bet against the banks and go all the way with their convictions. If a movie about finance doesn’t excite you, it should. Films such as ‘Margin Call’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ have proved to be fantastic in the past. Those films were quite different but both succeeded on the back of awesome casts and incredible dialogue, something ‘The Big Short’ looks to share. Without further ado lets take a look at the trailer.
First off, the trailer is very well cut but I detect some trickery. It seems like the filmmakers might be wanting to attract fans who want another “Wolf” but I don’t think this film will rise to the humorous heights of that film. It won’t be as random or laugh out loud hilarious. Nor does it seem like it will be as grim as ‘Margin Call’, rather it will fall somewhere between the two. Second thing, no one seems to have their own hair. In fact Steve Carell seems to have stolen Gosling’s. What we do have is four academy award nominated actors playing very interesting characters. Christian Bale is the slightly disconnected and enigmatic “smartest guy in the room”. Ryan Gosling is the suave, laid-back joker. Steve Carell is the indignant and outraged veteran. Brad Pitt is the older, calmer, thinker.
People are often worried when such a cast comes together. Is the script good or are the filmmakers relying on the stars to carry the whole project with good performances? Hopefully the script is well done because we know these performers will deliver. Don’t suck us in with the names alone Hollywood.
The film is directed by Adam McKay who has ‘Anchorman’ and ‘Anchorman 2’ on his resume, suggesting the comedic material should hit the right notes but doesn’t inspire excitement about whether the gravity of the drama will be felt as it should.
Personally, I’m not too worried. At worst it will be an entertaining couple of hours watching good actors.
What did you think of the trailer?