The Big Short
Short description
The Big Short follows several financial professionals who notice something the rest of Wall Street is ignoring. In 2005, as the housing market booms and complex mortgage products are sold as safe investments, hedge fund manager Michael Burry examines the underlying loans and concludes the market is heading for collapse. He puts his fund's money behind that conclusion, betting against the housing market. Word spreads to a handful of other traders and investors, including Mark Baum, Jared Vennett and Ben Rickert, who investigate for themselves and take similar positions. The banks and most of the industry treat them as alarmists, and their bet only pays off if the economy fails, which puts them at odds with nearly everyone around them. The film is based on Michael Lewis's nonfiction book about the 2008 financial crisis.
Adam McKay directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Randolph, working from a book by Michael Lewis. The film sits seventh in McKay's directing career, between Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Vice, and marked a move away from the comedies he had made with Will Ferrell. Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt lead an ensemble that spans 94 credited cast members.
Released in December 2015, the film was made for about 28 million USD and earned roughly 133 million USD worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.8 out of 10 from around 536,000 votes; on TMDB it scores 7.4 from about 10,000. A critics' rating of 7.8 from 325 reviews places it level with the IMDb audience figure and slightly above the TMDB one.
What's left behind the scenes
- In one episode, the financial genius himself – hedge fund manager Michael Burry – appears on screen for a few seconds.
- Steve Carell's portrayal of Mark Baum was based on real-life hedge fund manager Steve Eisman. Jared Vennett, played by Ryan Gosling, was inspired by trader Greg Lippmann. The character of Ben Rickert, played by Brad Pitt, is modeled after Ben Hockett. Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley, played by John Magaro and Finn Wittrock respectively, are based on real people Charlie Ledley and Jamie Mai.
- The first investor to respond to Burry's email was someone named Bateman.
- Screenwriter Michael Lewis recounted in one interview that the film distribution studio "Paramount" only gave director Adam McKay the green light to film "The Big Short" in exchange for a promise to make a sequel to the 2004 comedy "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy".
- This is the second joint project for actors Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, and Steve Carell. They previously starred together in the 2011 film "Crazy, Stupid, Love".
- The film's cast includes four Academy Award winners: Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Marisa Tomei, and Brad Pitt. Two actors nominated for an Oscar also appear in the film: Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling.
- The offices of the bankrupt investment firm Lehman Brothers were “recreated” in the lobby of the New York State Financial Services building in Manhattan.
- A caption appears on the screen: “'Truth is whatever you can get away with' – overheard in a Washington bar.” In reality, this phrase was invented by Adam McKay, the director and one of the screenwriters, after failing to find an expression that could be inserted into the corresponding episode of the film.
- When meeting Dr. Michael Burry, whom he was to portray, Christian Bale borrowed a pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt from him for the duration of filming. Bale later admitted he really wanted Burry to attend the premiere in Los Angeles. “I was hoping to sit next to him in the audience and find out if he was going to bite my head off,” the actor said.
- This is the second film based on a book by Michael Lewis that Brad Pitt has produced and starred in. The first was “Moneyball” (2011).
- Margot Robbie, who plays herself in a cameo role, had previously starred in a film about finance. That was Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013).
- Steve Eisman, the prototype for the character of Mark Baum played by Steve Carell, met debt obligations specialist Wing Chau at "Okada," a Japanese restaurant in the Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino. By the time "The Big Short" was being filmed, the restaurant had already closed, so the heroes' meeting was filmed at the Harrah's hotel in New Orleans, which also has a 24-hour casino.
- Adam McKay recounted that Christian Bale seriously injured his knee right before filming began on "The Big Short." Following doctors' advice, the director decided to use a stunt double in some scenes, but Bale insisted on filming himself. McKay eventually gave in to his persuasion, but during the filming of scenes behind the drum kit, doctors were on standby on set to provide the actor with medical assistance if needed.
- Director and one of the screenwriters, Adam McKay, said that the studio executives considered the characters in Michael Lewis's book to be flawed. "They told me, 'We need to make them more positive,' and I was like, 'Everyone is like that. Martin Luther King cheated on his wife. Gandhi was a wanderer. We're all messed up. And they're no better than anyone else.'"
- At the end of the trip to Las Vegas, the camera shows a highway with a huge poster of comedian and actor Martin Short above it (the English title of the film is "The Big Short").
- In the initial version of the script, other celebrities were considered for cameo roles. Instead of Margot Robbie, who talks about mortgage-backed securities, Scarlett Johansson was supposed to appear. Instead of Selena Gomez with a speech about collateralized debt obligations, Beyoncé with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, were planned. Jay-Z was even supposed to say a few words about a lost bet – the phrase contained an allusion to one of his most popular songs.
- When Michael Burry, played by Christian Bale, checks his email after sending a message to his clients, several incoming emails from Adam McKay can be seen on the screen.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
