The Big Short (Rated C)
Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
Genre: Comedy-Drama
Dwight's Rating: 3.5 Stars

Expect a flood of emotions with one of the best movies of the year!
"The Big Short" examines what led to "The Great Recession" of 2007/2008, and is among the first films delving into this subject matter. Perhaps because of the relative speed of the global recovery, it appears that many have not truly appreciated --especially here in The Bahamas -- the full extent and seriousness of this situation, and just how perilously the world teetered on the brink of depression and disaster.
But millions of people lost their homes and jobs all over the world. And while there've been countless books, movies, plays and TV shows set during "The Great Depression", the startling picture "The Big Short" paints shows clearly that there are many more stories about this most recent economic crisis still to be told.
Based on the 2010 non-fiction book of the same name, the story follows four outsiders who saw what the big banks, media and government refused to -- the pending global collapse of the economy. The men had an idea: The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of modern banking where they must question everyone and everything.
That synopsis doesn't sound very funny; it actually sounds more like a tragedy. But Director Adam McKay ("Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"), who co-wrote along Charles Randolph, does a masterful job of tackling this very serious story in an extremely humorous way. The tone is similar to the 2013 black comedy, "The Wolf of Wall Street" -- though no way near as explicit.
McKay lightens the often complicated and complex subject matter with some strategic celebrity cameos featuring actress Margot Robbie, singer Selena Gomez, and even Chef Anthony Bourdain. They try to explain in simple terms the inner-workings of the stock market and Wall Street, and the U.S. housing sector.
The pacing is lightning fast and full of energy. Credit must go to the stellar male-dominated cast. Christian Bale, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling are superb, and lead the strong performances, which include Brad Pitt in a small role.
There are many gimmicks -- actors frequently turn away from the action in a scene to talk to the audience. In the hands of less capable directors or actors, this would be a cheesy disaster. But here, these are surprisingly effective tools, working well with the overall vibe of the production.
With the quality of the production, not surprisingly, "The Big Short" was well rewarded with Oscar nominations. It will compete for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Christian Bale as Supporting Actor, McKay for Best Director; it's also up for Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing.
Back to the flood of emotions; although it is amusing, you'll likely get quite angry as the movie moves along, and when you see in vivid detail that it was almost entirely greed and extremely questionable and flawed decisions by banking executives that led to bursting of the housing bubble, and the eventual financial crisis.
And you'll absolutely be seeing red with the response of the credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor's and Moody's -- which seem to have something to say about any and everything that happens in The Bahamas. They essentially sat back and allowed the near-collapse of the U.S. economy.
But even worse will be when you realize that less than eight years after the Great Recession supposedly ended, very few things have actually changed. And for all the talk of people downsizing or rightsizing once and for all, and fiscal responsibility, many people's spending habits are back where they were pre-recession, and that another greed-fueled, man-made global disaster is quite likely again in our lifetime.

o Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of " Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.

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