Movie reviews: The Big Short, Our Brand is Crisis, Freeheld

The Big Short (15A) opens in 2005, when number-cruncher extraordinaire Dr Michael Burry (Christian Bale) discovers the vast hole at the heart of the American economy. 

When news begins to filter out that Burry is betting against – or ‘shorting’ – the housing market, historically the central plank of the USA’s economic stability, hedge fund managers such as Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) and Mark Baum (Steve Carell) are initially sceptical. Soon, however, the wolves begin circling, and the economic meltdown of 2008 unfolds in all its grisly glory.

Adapted from Michael Lewis’s book, and directed by Adam McKay, The Big Short offers a quirky take on the complex events that precipitated the great economic crash (McKay jazzes up the here-comes-the-science bits by having the more complicated issues explained by Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez).