In the crime comedy-drama “The Big Short,” directed by Adam McKay, a group of financial industry insiders—particularly Michael Burry, Jared Vennett, Mark Baum, and Ben Rickert—predict the impending economic collapse of the nation’s housing bubble and strike it rich by betting against the banks. It uses intriguing directing tactics, such as breaching the fourth wall and combining the various stories in a collage-like narrative, to make the viewer grasp common financial topics like subprime lending and collateral debt obligations (CDO).
The 2015 biographical film, which was well-developed, is propelled by a sharp plot and engaging performances by a brilliant cast that includes renowned performers like Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt in leading roles, as well as a number of other gifted cast members and cameos. You’ve come to the right place if you’re wondering how grounded in reality “The Big Short” really is given the factual components in the story. This is what we do know:
Is The Big Short a True Story?
‘The Big Short’ is, in fact, based on a genuine story. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis, is the basis for the film. It is a nonfiction account of the mortgage housing crisis of 2007–2008 that rendered millions of Americans homeless. Charles Randolph, who recently won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and filmmaker Adam McKay worked together to adapt the 2010 novel for the big screen. The subprime mortgage crisis actually started as soon as speculators began to make money off the home loan market.
A number of large institutions, including J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, AIG, and Lehman Brothers, were complicit in the scheme but were later cleared. After the recession, Bear Stearns failed and was acquired by JP Morgan Chase. In the worldwide crisis rivalling the Great Depression of the 1930s, many of us lost our homes, jobs, pensions, and retirement assets. Four outcasts in the financial sector who foresaw this autumn are used in the movie to illustrate this issue. They are not shown as heroes or villains; rather, they are those who were aware of the situation and pointed out that although people were in debt, financial institutions were benefiting from it.
Michael Burry, a talented neurologist, investor, and hedge fund manager with Asperger’s syndrome, is portrayed by Bale. He was aware of the crime long before it was made public because he was able to see through Wall Street’s statistics and propaganda. Burry has been in the news ever since. In particular, people paid attention when, in February, he cancelled his Twitter account after tweeting the foreboding phrase “Sell.” Burry placed a $1.6 billion wager on a second Wall Street catastrophe in August 2023. Mark Baum, a hedge fund investor who requested a name change for the book, is portrayed by Steve Carrell. His real name is Steve Eisman. After shorting the CDOs, he made upwards of a million dollars in profit. Eisman has been employed by asset management company Neuberger Berman since 2014 as a senior portfolio manager.
Ryan Gosling plays Jared Vennett, a trader modelled after Greg Lippmann, who made $1.5 billion as the global head of CDO and ABS trading at Deutsche Bank at the time of the financial crisis. Lippmann co-founded LibreMax Partners, an asset management company, in 2010. Most frequently breaking the fourth wall, McKay’s Vennett pauses and queries the audience as to whether they actually comprehended the tedious financial language in the movie.
The character of Ben Rickert, played by Brad Pitt, is based on retired trader Ben Hockett of Deutsche Bank who assisted Cornwall Capital employees Charlie Ledley and Jamie Mai (Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley in the movie). Pitt put on 20 pounds and grew out his salt-and-pepper beard for the part, opting for a more relaxed appearance. Hockett had quit working on the Wall Street market to work from his home in Beverly Hills trading derivatives.
The four individuals lost money by betting against this collapse, which caused mayhem in the market. But this is where ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and ‘The Big Short’ diverge. In the latter, despite making hundreds of millions of dollars, the main characters do not appear to be happy. Additionally, even if it may seem so, what they do is not unlawful, and somehow some viewers may wind themselves supporting them throughout the movie!
In an interview with NPR, McKay claimed that when reading Lewis’ book, he came across a footnote praising the reader for grasping a challenging notion, which gave him the inspiration to breach the fourth wall in his movie. As a result, we see Selena Gomez playing at a casino, Margot Robbie discussing subprime in the bathtub, and culinary legend Anthony Bourdain describing financial principles in his kitchen. That is both a breach of the fourth wall and a spoof of modern music videos or reality TV. In essence, McKay wanted to pose the question: What if they all shared important knowledge that had an impact on the lives of millions of people?
Because Lewis’ book contains too much information, according to McKay, “The Big Short” is an unrivalled Wall Street drama thanks to its collage-like structure and patched-together scenes. He didn’t want the audience to find it boring or take it so seriously that they forget this event actually occurred in real life and had very serious repercussions. McKay chose a sombre conclusion as opposed to the one in the novel, which is all about knowledge of the crash, bets, and threats to the financial system from within, in order to emphasise the negative impacts of economic collapse on ordinary people.
In one of the scenes where it is about to change into “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which hammers away at this kind of life, the film navigates the bankers’ progression from the country club to the strip club. ‘The Big Short’, however, ends here. The latter discusses the problem and all those involved in considerable detail. Other than that, the film’s setting maintains its realism and is reminiscent of the early 2000s thanks to the Blackberry phones, computers, and clothing. Burry’s genuine T-shirt was reportedly worn by Christian Bale during filming the movie!
Beyond the complicated financial concerns at hand, McKay wants to reveal what actually occurred to the globe so that the regular people who were most impacted can participate in this discussion. In light of the aforementioned considerations, we deduce that “The Big Short” is an excellent movie that brilliantly tackles a challenging subject without wearing out the viewer. It is a delectable medley of accounts of actual persons and occasions together with a few dark comedic aspects.
