The Big Short

"This is a true story."

2015 2h 11m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 10,146

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.

“This is a true story.”

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Cast

Steve Carell
Mark Baum
Christian Bale
Michael Burry
Ryan Gosling
Jared Vennett
Brad Pitt
Ben Rickert
Marisa Tomei
Cynthia Baum
Melissa Leo
Georgia Hale
Hamish Linklater
Porter Collins
John Magaro
Charlie Geller

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

301+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Adam McKay, shot by Barry Ackroyd. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nicholas Britell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hank Corwin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Steve Carell and Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "This is a true story.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Adam McKay directs. Barry Ackroyd behind the camera. Nicholas Britell scores. Hank Corwin cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.
2Released 11 years ago.
3301+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Adam McKay, shot by Barry Ackroyd. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Nicholas Britell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Hank Corwin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Steve Carell and Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "This is a true story.".
9IMDB entry: tt1596363 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1010,146 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
11Classified under 14 themes, including "based on novel or book", "bank", "fraud", "wall street".

The technical file

Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd
Original score: Nicholas Britell
Editing: Hank Corwin
Production design: Clayton Hartley
Costume design: Susan Matheson
Makeup / hair: Adruitha Lee
VFX supervisor: Richard Bluff
Sound: Anna Behlmer
Stunt coordinator: Chris J. Fanguy
Runtime: 131 min · 2h 11m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $28,000,000
Box office: $133,346,506
Return: 476% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Big Short (2015)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Adam McKay

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

izgzhen2018-04-07
★ 10/10
Perfect film as I see. The actors are all awesome and characteristic. The rhythm is tight and deeply involving. I really like the theme -- 2008 global economy crisis. This film explains many technical sides unfamiliar to most of us, including those deeply affected by this catastrophe. Above the technical details, the main four roles have different philosophical insights during this event: Michael Burry -- Realistic, Objective, Knowing history Ben Rickert & Pals -- Murphy's Law Jared Vennett -- Distrust of the Big Corp Mark Baum -- Belief in the justice, even in against of the money In conclusion, 100% recommended.
The Movie Mob2022-08-11
★ 8/10
Overall, Adam McKay somehow found a way to make a movie about mortgage fraud profoundly entertaining while still informative. Is it even possible that a serious film this well written, acted, and shot could possibly be directed by the same guy that did Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers? I know! Mindblowing! But Adam McKay pulled it off with an incredible cast and brilliant storytelling that took advantage of multiple narratives to keep the movie moving quickly. The Big Short was keenly aware that some of its necessary exposition was pretty complex and boring, so it found clever and entertaining ways to give those cumbersome details without losing its audience. As a guy that generally needs explosions and car chases to keep me engaged, I could not believe how much I enjoyed this film. The Big Short is an eye-opening film that tells a complex story with a fun, fast pace that keeps the audience engaged and entertained.
CinemaSerf2024-04-19
★ 7/10
This is a fascinating appraisal of the antics on Wall Street leading up to the global economic crash that started with the collapse of the American mortgages market in the mid 2000s. Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell are superb as the three men who identify and appreciate the risks, capitalise on the flaws and who ultimately epitomise the woefully lacking standards of regulation and comprehension by market and government alike; coupled with degrees of avarice that would make King Midas want to blush. The pace of the film is gripping - plenty of parallel threads that gradually conjoin to create a compelling narrative well exemplified by a cast at the top of their game delivering a taut, fast moving adaptation of Michael Lewis' frequently jaw-dropping book. The technique of using real celebrities (like Margot Robbie & Selena Gomez) to illustrate some of the more abstruse aspects of these bewildering processes is effective, and the supporting cast - especially Brad Pitt (who reminded me a lot of Robert Redford), as perhaps the most odious of all: he knew the likely pitfalls for the ordinary people of their scheming, but proceeded regardless - Rafe Spall and Finn Wittrock add marvellously to this. What is does lack, though, is any sort of political dimension. It sets it's sights fairly on the excesses of the businesses, but focusses not at all on the incompetencies of regulators and politicians alike, which does present us with a bit of bias as to the complicity of many, many more than just the bankers in this disaster. It has a degree of thinly woven humanity to it, but sadly illustrates all to clearly how profligacy and greed prevailed in the absence of any real sense of decency or integrity. The last ten minutes is particularly potent - or should that be portentous...?