Movie Review

The Big Short amuses even if the message depresses

On the list of real-life events that most people would not want to relive, much less try to be entertained by, the housing market collapse of 2008 resides near the top. And yet here is The Big Short, directed by comedy filmmaker Adam McKay, attempting to bring a measure of levity to the worst financial crisis any of us hope to ever know.

McKay does so by focusing on three groups of mostly unrelated people in the financial industry who saw the collapse coming and bet many millions of dollars on the idea that it would happen. They include Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale), leader of a hedge fund; Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), two players on Wall Street; and Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt), a veteran banker who helps two green investors exploit the financial system.

Each of them goes about betting against the housing market, or in financial lingo, “shorting” it, in different ways. Much of the humor of the film comes in how each of them, in the face of much derision, forges forward because of their foresight. At the same time, the situations contain either underlying or overt drama, since them being right means almost certain disaster for the country, if not the world.

McKay and co-writer Charles Randolph know that the details of the financial market can be, to put it mildly, a bit dry. Even though they still use a lot of it because it’s unavoidable, they occasionally make it more interesting by having celebrities like Margot Robbie, Anthony Bourdain, and Selena Gomez break concepts down so that non-experts can understand them.

They inject additional comedy into the proceedings by giving many of the main characters big or quirky personalities, and by saddling each of the stars with ridiculous wigs. Carell and Gosling, previously co-stars in Crazy, Stupid, Love., get to go the most wild, while Bale and Pitt let their absurd hair do the talking for them.

But as entertaining as some of the scenes can be, there’s no escaping the downbeat ending we all know is coming. It’s difficult to root for any of characters’ successes knowing that their gain is our pain. Even though none of them seems to do anything wrong, and some even express remorse about their role in the process, they’re never really “heroes.”

The two big winners, acting-wise, are Carell and Bale, for almost opposite reasons. Carell’s role has more meat to it, as Baum’s incredulity and anger give him a lot to work with. Bale’s role is subtler but just as effective. Special credit should also be given to supporting actors like Rafe Spall, Hamish Linklater, Jeremy Strong, John Magaro, and Finn Wittrock. They each give true support to the stars, setting them up brilliantly time and again.

In its own way, The Big Short is as vital a message movie as has come out in recent years. The downright depressing coda, which shows that almost nothing has changed in the seven years since the start of the crisis, should be a wake-up call for anybody who thinks this could never happen again.

Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling in The Big Short.

Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling in The Big Short

Photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling in The Big Short.

Movie Review

The Mandalorian and Grogu is not the Star Wars movie fans are looking for

The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in The Mandalorian and Grogu

Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm

The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

At one point in the 2010s, there were plans to release a different Star Wars movie every year, with an “Episode” film (like The Rise of Skywalker) alternating with anthology movies like Rogue One. But when 2018’s Solo underperformed, those plans changed, and the pandemic made any Star Wars movie less appealing, with Lucasfilm shifting heavily toward TV shows like The Mandalorian.

The popularity of that show in particular has led to the return of Star Wars to the theaters in the form of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. The film follows the bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) and his Force-sensitive adopted child as they travel around the universe, hunting down the remaining members of the Galactic Empire (the film, like the series, is set in the years following The Return of the Jedi).

The main thrust of the film has the duo, at the behest of Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) of the New Republic, trying to track down Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), the son of the late Jabba the Hutt, who’s supposedly been kidnapped. The discovery of the ultra-buff Rotta sets them down a different path than they thought, one that puts Mando and Grogu in the crosshairs of Rotta’s twin cousins.

Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor, the film is perfectly fine if you consider it to be an extended Mandalorian episode, but at no point does it rise to the level of a great movie experience.

The film, like the show, is defined by the Mandalorian’s unflappable nature and strict code, as well as Grogu’s mischievousness and unquenchable appetite. Right from the start, the Mandalorian has a “take no prisoners” approach, laying waste to all comers in a PG-13 sort of way. Grogu is mostly along for the ride, occasionally breaking out the Force to help out, but mostly serving as the comic sidekick. Their relationship keeps the film watchable, but only just barely.

The biggest issue, one which was starting to affect the Disney+ show as well, is that the story never seems to go anywhere despite the fact that its two main characters are constantly on the move. No matter how big or ferocious the opponent they face, the overall stakes are so low as to almost be nonexistent. If Favreau and Filoni (who has a small part in the film) are trying to build toward some larger story, it doesn’t come through on screen.

The film’s action fits in well with sequences that have been put forth in previous Star Wars films, but to call them “cinematic” would be stretching things. There are all manner of monstrous creatures that the duo comes across in their adventures, but only a few of them are memorable. The most interesting sequence features a snake/dragon hybrid that Mando fights in a watery pit that is reminiscent of the trash compactor scene in the original Star Wars. Much of the rest of the film blends together in a mish-mash of uninteresting opponents.

For a live action film, there are precious few actors who actually show their faces. The Mandalorian removes his helmet exactly once, making it clear that Pascal is merely providing the voice for the character. White affects a tough voice for Rotta that may be canon, but frankly sounds ridiculous coming from the character’s body and in no way resembles White’s actual voice, which negates his casting altogether. Weaver is close to a non-factor in her small role, but Martin Scorsese is kind of fun voicing a four-armed fry cook/informant.

The cachet of Star Wars and the fun of The Mandalorian series may be enough for many to enjoy the inoffensive lark that is The Mandalorian and Grogu. But the film does not come close to reaching the heights of the best Star Wars movies, and does nothing to indicate what to expect from the valuable intellectual property going forward.

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Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opens in theaters on May 22.

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