The Big Short movie review (2016) | Little White Lies

The Big Short

19 Jan 2016 / Released: 22 Jan 2016

Words by David Jenkins

Directed by Adam McKay

Starring Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, and Steve Carell

Man on the phone in an office, sitting at a desk with a nametag that reads "Michael Berry, M.D."
Man on the phone in an office, sitting at a desk with a nametag that reads "Michael Berry, M.D."
4

Anticipation.

It seems that Adam McKay is Oscar’s new bessie mate.

3

Enjoyment.

Lots of pleasant bluster, but spreads itself a little too thin.

3

In Retrospect.

<p class="p1">Though it is nice to see a mainstream drama that’s at least ambitious and (mildly) ambiguous in its right-on aims.</p>

The direc­tor of Anchor­man 2 dials back the screw­ball in this frisky tale of the sub-prime mort­gage melt­down of 2007.

You might like

Three people walking through a dense, overgrown landscape surrounded by tangled branches and foliage.
Review

28 Years Later review – Danny Boyle is finally back

by David Jenkins

Dan­ny Boyle kick­starts a new zom­bie tril­o­gy with this gen­uine­ly anar­chic explo­ration of iso­la­tion­ism with superb turns from Jodie Com­er and Aaron Tay­lor Johnson.

2
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Young boy in a blue shirt sitting in a blue, glowing boat on a dark, shadowy lake, with a small white creature floating nearby.
Review

Elio review – a touching treaty on the search for belonging

by Yasmine Kandil

A social­ly awk­ward young boy dis­cov­ers alien life in Pixar’s sweet new inter­galac­tic adventure.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A close-up of a shirtless man with a bloodied and bruised face, his expression stern and intense.
Review

Protein review – nasty, funny, soulful

by David Jenkins

A gang of small-town drug deal­ing gym rats are set upon by a mur­der­ous stranger in this sat­is­fy­ing Welsh genre piece.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Black dragon-like creature with horns and green eyes resting on sandy ground.
Review

How To Train Your Dragon review – never quite catches the updraft needed to soar to uncharted heights

by Yasmine Kandil

Dream­works’ first for­ay into the world of live-action remakes is fair­ly unre­mark­able despite occa­sion­al sparks of magic.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two women sitting on a bed surrounded by clutter and personal items.
Review

Lollipop review – a gut-punching debut

by Emily Maskell

Daisy-May Hudson’s impres­sive fic­tion debut lays bare the bureau­crat­ic cycles a young woman has to face as she attempts to regain cus­tody of her children.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two people, a man and a woman, sitting close together and looking intently at each other.
Review

Mysterious Skin

by David Jenkins

Gregg Ara­ki has aban­doned his rough-around-the-edges exploita­tion style in favour of the dream-like tex­tures of David Lynch.

1
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect