![]() ![]() Margot Robbie in a bubble bath is great, but it might not be the best way to tell the complex story of the 2008 financial crisis. Longtime Will Ferrell collaborator, former “SNL” head writer and director Adam McKay, whose work usually isn’t even on the smart end of the comedy spectrum, co-wrote and directed “The Big Short,” an inept and frequently idiotic take on Michael Lewis’ deeply engaging book, and it will largely be remembered for three things: bad haircuts, overacting and Margot Robbie in a bubble bath. To say the least, it’s an imprecise view, which raises the question: When it’s time to make a movie dealing in complex material about contemporary financial instruments, is the guy who brought us “Anchorman 2” really the best available option? The story is everything, and that story is: Evil bankers in an unregulated Wild West of capitalist depravity crippled the economy, cost us taxpayers billions of dollars in bailouts and carried on in a lawless spree that should have resulted in jail time for everybody. Few of the people talking about it, from President Obama on down, show the slightest interest in understanding what actually happened and how to prevent it from happening again. So it goes with the financial crisis of 2008. That’s a strange tactic when your movie bills itself as a true story: What else, the audience will wonder, is made up? An actor turns to the camera and explains that it didn’t happen this way in reality, but who cares? This way, we are told, it makes for a better story. In the movie, fortune smiles on an ambitious young Wall Streeter when another moneyman accidentally leaves him a briefcase full of tasty secret information. And then there's the powerhouse cast, led by a brilliant Bale as a doctor-turned-hedge-fund-manager who has an ease with numbers and an unease with people.Being funny is not the same thing as being unserious, but in trying to be the former, the guy who made the movie version of “The Big Short” has proven merely that he is the latter. Ultimately, The Big Short is whip smart, supported by a script that manages to educate while it amuses. Then again, nervous laughter may just be an appropriate response to a movie about how a small group of outsiders identified a weakness in a system high on arrogance and avarice - a system that, unfortunately, had such weight that, when it toppled, it took so many innocent and not-so-innocent souls with it. (Though we really did enjoy the celebrity-cameo-filled footnotes that explained the dizzying banking and investment maneuvers and products that basically undid the economy.) You laugh at all the asides - and they are funny, though perhaps not all of them were necessary - and then feel terrible for laughing. But it might just be a little too entertaining, a little too funny for a film that’s so sobering. The Big Short is a flashy, quick-witted, and, yes, entertaining film about the housing and banking collapse. ![]() Keeping Kids Motivated for Online Learning.Use these free activities to help kids explore our planet, learn about global challenges, think of solutions, and take action.Family Activities: Use these creative ideas for free activities to move, learn, relax, and connect as a family.Which Side of History? How Technology Is Reshaping Democracy and Our Lives.Cómo saber si una aplicación o sitio web son realmente educativos.How to Tell If an App or a Website Is Good for Learning.Teachers: Find the best edtech tools for your classroom with in-depth expert reviews.Check out new Common Sense Selections for games.10 tips for getting kids hooked on books.Common Sense Selections for family entertainment. ![]()
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