The Big Short

... it wreaks of self-important pseudo-commentary that is more hollow and garishly humorous than it cares to admit.

While The Big Short is hardly uplifting, it still manages to tell a rambunctiously funny tale that's as informative as it is entertaining, humor walking hand-in-hand with tragedy to ultimately craft a comedy that's impossible to dismiss.

Adam McKay's The Big Short plays like an elaborate con, albeit one that uses its powers for good.

An unlikely but oddly effective mixture of dark comedy, character study, based-on-a-true-story drama, rabble-rousing, and detective story.

As The Big Short goes on, it becomes progressively less funny and more depressing, mirroring the attitudes of the characters.

At first, the to-camera segments can be discombobulating, but over two hours, the film coalesces into a brilliantly accessible, scathing account of the financial crisis, and its continuing aftermath.

Headlined by a star-studded cast, this legitimate must-see film tip-toes audaciously between biting satire and topical cautionary tale. You won't know whether to be pissed or be entertained and that's a powerful quality to pull off.

'The Big Short' is the film that we needed at this time.

Trying to keep up with all of the fast market talk and financial blather wore me down. And there’s so much emphasis on it that the movie comes off as overstuffed and missing the human element which would have given it a more powerful punch.

McKay's defiant treatment just barely avoids becoming so irreverent that its sense of humor overshadows its significance.