About this episode

The episode explores the impact and nuances of Adam McKay's film 'The Big Short' and its commentary on the 2008 financial crisis.

Adam McKay’s passion project that changed the direction of his career. We break down how The Other Guys was his first attempt at calling out the 2008 financial crisis through comedy… and when nobody took it seriously, he made this. We get into why cutting away to Margot Robbie in a bathtub to explain mortgage backed securities is actually Adam McKay making fun of the audience. We discuss how Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment quietly made this movie possible after already producing Moneyball from the same author. And we break down why Ryan Gosling's performance as Jared Vennett might be the most underrated thing in the entire film. Chapters: 00:00 ANNOUCEMENTS & Intro 2:02 Adam McKay finally being fr this time 9:25 What the hell is even going on in this movie 17:17 Michael Burry's next big prediction 21:26 Why Adam McKay wanted to make this movie 26:25 Josh Safdie needs to take some notes 31:47 What happened in the Morgan Stanley scene? 35:12 Brad Pitt making money moves 38:14 How the cast came to be & stories from their prep 52:21 Why the style is perfect for the movie 59:04 Our final thoughts

People in this episode

Host: CRWN Cinema

Topics covered

• film analysis
• Adam McKay
• financial crisis
• movie breakdown
• performances
• comedy in film

Keywords

• The Big Short
• Adam McKay
• financial crisis
• Margot Robbie
• Brad Pitt
• Ryan Gosling
• movie analysis
• comedy
• performances

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Plan B Entertainment

Books & works: The Big Short, The Other Guys, Moneyball

More episodes of CRWN Cinema Podcast

• "Land of the Lost" - The Most Hated Comedy of All Time · July 20, 2026 · 1h 11m
• "Hell or High Water" - A Perfectly Written Movie Nobody Talks About · July 13, 2026 · 1h 24m
• "The Other Guys" - The Dumbest Serious Movie Ever Made · June 29, 2026 · 60 min
• "Obsession" - Why Everyone Is Obsessed With Obsession · June 22, 2026 · 1h 2m
• "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" - Tarantino at His Most Meta · June 15, 2026 · 1h 10m

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