The detail with which Lewis dissects the mechanics of the mortgage crisis, is at once fascinating and horrifying. But when you stop and think about it, their only real crime was profiting off of a crooked system that was going belly up anyhow. The story behind the 2007/8 financial crisis, as told by Michael Lewis in The Big Short is so outrageous it is at times hard to believe it is true. None of these people are very easy to root for, especially since they stood to make millions off of the absolute detonation of the American economy. The narrative revolves around these characters: Steve Eisman of FrontPoint partners, who bet against the subprime lending industry thanks to the advice of Greg Lippmann, a bond trader from. It focuses in particular on a few exceptional people who were able to predict the crisis in advance and thus profit from it. And finally, Finn Wittrock and John Magaro as the small fish swimming against Wall Street’s herd-minded sharks. The Big Short tells the story of the lead-up to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The Big Short is a 2015 film adaptation of author Michael Lewis’s best-selling book of the same name. Then there’s Steve Carell as a loud, misanthropic hedge fund honcho who bet the farm on bad debt. There’s also Christian Bale as a socially awkward, speed metal-loving doctor-turned-money manager who was the first skeptic to sniff out the house of cards the market was built on. As our semi-trustworthy slickster narrator, Ryan Gosling oozes smarm and smartass charm, leading viewers through the ins and outs of a game that’s always been rigged against regular, hardworking folks. Based on Michael Lewis’ 2010 non-fiction bestseller, the film follows a small group of contrarian Cassandras who bet against the housing bubble just as it was about to burst.