Starring Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Marisa Tomei; directed by Adam McKay; 170 minutes; rated R for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity; opens Wednesday

In adapting the 2010 financial crisis book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” by Michael Lewis, the director of “Anchorman” doesn’t seem like the first choice. And yet, it becomes clear that Adam McKay, known for his comedic work on “Saturday Night Live” and with Will Ferrell, is clearly the right man for the job, because the humor is absolutely necessary to cut through the rage you might feel at the material. The film clearly lays out the intricacies of the 2008 global financial crisis, demonstrating the ways in which bankers wrung money out of a housing market made out of wishes and dreams.

“The Big Short” is anchored by big-name stars in goofy hair and accents, including Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Christian Bale, who are uniformly excellent all around as the loners, idiot-savants and misanthropes of Wall Street. They are the tenuously connected individuals who envisioned the spectacular crash of a housing market built on the rickety foundations of sub-prime mortgages propped up by false ratings.

If that sounds like too much wonky financial jargon, not to worry, McKay takes a speedy rat-a-tat-tat approach to the material. “The Big Short” is post-modern to the max, self-reflective, a hodge-podge of fast editing and fast talking, breaking the fourth wall again and again to keep the story moving along. McKay never dumbs down the explanations of the complicated financial products, but he does take the time to jazz up things like “synthetic collateralized debt obligation” with cheeky celebrity cameos.

Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service