In a country of over 300 million people, you would think that more people would have caught on with the impending doom of the housing crisis. “The Big Short” explores the events leading up to one of the worst recessions in US history.
Director Adam McKay took several liberties with the movie, such as changing the names of the characters. Steve Eisman in the book, is portrayed by Steve Carrell as Mark Baum in the movie. When listening to the book, I thought Eisman was supposed to be Christian Bale’s character, Michael Burry, as the book was initially building him up to be the main character.
Author Michael Lewis has a background in finance and showcases his knowledge in his book. What this leads to, however, is a dry retelling of the housing crisis that would put the average reader to sleep. He doesn’t have the advantage of Margot Robbie in a bathtub explaining in layman’s terms what the stock market is.
I thought the book was decent and informative, but there is only so much you can do to explain the events without it reading it like a history book.
What I would have liked to see in the movie that was brought up in the book is the fall of Lehman Brothers. The movie failed to bring up the fall of Lehman Brothers, which played a significant role in the housing collapse. I could understand, as it would have just created more confusion within the flow of the story. McKay did a great job of tiptoeing the line of entertainment and factual events. He could have easily lost the audience, which is why I’m sure he didn’t want to add Lehman Brothers, as it would have made the movie more convoluted.
Still, the book touches on an important aspect of what caused the downfall, saying “the problem isn’t Lehman Brothers weren’t allowed to fail. The problem is they were allowed to succeed.” This theme is a focal point of the movie, but chooses to highlight several antagonists such as Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns to show there wasn’t a sole head honcho in selling the mortgage-backed securities that led to the housing collapse.
This is a throwaway comment, but one of my favorite movies, “Margin Call,” tells a fictionalized story of Lehman Brothers. If that movie was inserted into the third act of “The Big Short,” it would have fit in without missing a step.
Overall, the movie was entertaining, even if you’re not financially adept to what is going on. The book requires a level of insightfulness where you care what is going on. The movie provides an entertaining cliff note to the housing collapse. There is no need to read the book unless, at most, you’re just curious of what happened. Otherwise, the movie, with its cameos and sidestep humor, is enough to get an idea of what happened during one of the worst recessions imaginable.