81
Metascore
45 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe best film of the year? Possibly …
- 90McKay approaches this adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book with wit, energy and a surprising degree of clarity. But if the movie is a crackerjack entertainment, it’s one with a conscience.
- 83The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinThe PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinThe Big Short ends up an energetic, absorbing version of these events, marked deeply by its director’s uniquely surreal vision.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe Big Short means to infuriate its audience, but it’s smart enough to know that such an approach doesn’t preclude a film from being darkly, cathartically funny as well.
- 75TheWrapInkoo KangTheWrapInkoo KangThe film’s compassion for everyday Americans...along with its energetic determination to entertain, enlighten, and infuriate make it a laudable surprise.
- 70VarietyAndrew BarkerVarietyAndrew BarkerThere’s an unmistakable, scathing sense of outrage behind the whole endeavor, and it’s impossible not to admire McKay’s reckless willingness to do everything short of jumping through flaming hoops on a motorcycle while reading aloud from Keynes if that’s what it takes to get people to finally pay attention.
- 60The GuardianNigel M SmithThe GuardianNigel M SmithMcKay’s attempt to cover so much ground is admirable; and the outrage that courses throughout is deeply felt. But his busy execution...feels labored.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyOn their own, individual scenes are effective enough in semi-farcically portraying the ignorance, avoidance and/or downright denial by the practitioners of bad loans. Together, however, they are wearying in their repetitive nature.
- 50Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIts fourth-wall-breaking wags a finger at the perceived facile nature of celebrity-driven mass culture even as it ultimately condescends to audiences.
- 10Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonMcKay's bumptious movie awkwardly combines fourth-wall-breaking gimmickry and flaccid indignation with the goofball energy that defines his comedies.