The man who helped bring the legend of anchorman Ron Burgundy to light gave movie audiences a biting opus in late 2015 about the real financial meltdown that almost collapsed the world economy in The Big Short (Paramount Home Entertainment, Rated R, $39.99, 130 minutes).
Director Adam McKay’s quirky and frenetic film, based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis, makes its Blu-ray debut on March 15, allowing viewers to watch the hijinks in the comfort of their own mortgaged home.
The ensemble cast offers many characters based on actual humans who cashed in big-time when the subprime loan debacle occurred in 2008 and millions of American defaulted on their homes, lost retirement savings and their jobs.
They include Christian Bale as Dr. Michael Burry, the neurologist turned hedge-fund manager who predicted the housing bubble and used credit default swaps; Steve Carell as Mark Baum (based on the real Steve Eisman), the obnoxious Wall Street hedge-fund manager; Ryan Gosling as Jared Vennett (based on Greg Lippmann), a Deutsche Bank bond salesman; and Brad Pitt as Ben Rickert (based on Ben Hockett), a former banker fed up by the industry.
The film offers plenty of laughs while viewers’ grit their teeth in disgust over the greedy situation.
Better yet, the sharp, Academy Award-winning script specifically describes in laymen’s terms (with characters often breaking the fourth wall and talking to the camera) how corrupt bankers, brokerage houses, fund managers, and the government bought about a near unrecoverable recession.
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A digital transfer highlights the sets and costuming of the near period piece and the documentary verite shooting style of cinematographer Barry Ackroyd.
Extras include five deleted scenes (including one with trader Danny Moses who worked with Mr. Eisman) and five featurettes offering roughly an hour’s worth of information on the production.
The segments focus on the casting, the director, key characters from the movie (with words from Mr. Lewis and an appearance by the real Dr. Burry), locations and cinematography.
Best of the bunch offers a quick lesson in the world of bond packaging featuring Mr. Lewis and financial writer Adam Davidson that cover confusing terms such as Mortgage Backed Security, Credit Default Swap, Collateralized Debt Obligation and Synthetic CDO.
They stress throughout that basically nobody was held accountable for the corruption and fraud occurring at every level during the home-ownership market boom.
Note: “The Big Short” is currently available via Digital HD from such sources as iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Amazon.com.
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• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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