Why It's Desperate: A film about the 2007-2010 financial crisis adapted from an acclaimed book of the same name that spent 28 weeks on the New York Times' best-seller list, starring a cast with an impressive four Oscar wins between them, as well as a total of 14 nominations? Plus, writer-director Adam McKay is clearly hungry to elevate himself from merely being "the funny guy who made Step Brothers an Anchorman" to being taken a little more seriously as an artist. The trailer suggests a film that's aching to be relevant and take the greedy bankers to task, while taking a unique comic-drama approach to a subject that's already bored us to death. Will It Succeed?: Reviews so far indicate a mostly successful effort that makes solid use of its ensemble cast, though it's probably going to struggle to get much Oscar love outside of a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. The comic tone will play much better with the Golden Globes, though, and given the size of the cast, the real reward will be to see how it performs at the SAG Awards (where it was recently nominated for Best Cast and Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale).
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
