The world is on the brink of absolute disaster, and there are people out there looking to personally profit from the potential destruction. I present to you, an Adam McKay film – and no, I am not talking about Don’t Look Up (2021) which has caught the ire and admiration of the general moviegoing (well Netflix-watching) public. Instead, those profiteers are the “heroes” in McKay’s first non-slapstick comedy feature, The Big Short, based on the novel of the same name by author Michael Lewis.
The film details the housing crisis of the late aughts, where mortgage delinquencies hit record numbers and resulted in a select few raking in mega-cash as a result of some savvy trading. McKay’s film tells the story from the point of view of three groups of traders and fund managers. One of those POV’s is from a fund led by Mark Baum (played by Steve Carell). He’s an uptight, emotionally scarred workaholic who wants nothing more than to get back at the big banks who have spent years screwing people (as he puts it). Carell plays the role earnestly, with a 40mm steel 1:1 UK Rolex replica watches diver on his wrist that requires some suspension of disbelief to be fully appreciated.
Why We’re Watching
The nominations for the 2022 Academy Awards, set to air on March 27th, were announced this week. There’s plenty to talk about in terms of who was snubbed, and what films got nominated in which category. Don’t Look Up received four nominations, and buzz is out there that it could sneak away with Best Picture (though The Power of the Dog might have something to say about that). This felt like a good time to look back at this other McKay film, which itself earned five Oscar nominations, taking home one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
There are a lot of similarities between this film and Don’t Look Up in the sense that they both deal with the human response to cataclysmic events. In one case, we have the collapse of the entire financial system and in the other an extinction-level meteor. Don’t Look Up features an Elon Musk-type character hell-bent on finding a way to profit off of the space rock hurtling towards earth. In that film he’s the enemy (one of many). In this film, Baum and crew, who similarly look to get rich off of the financial collapse, are meant to be protagonists. It’s interesting, to say the least. And while I could get lost in the psychology behind that notion, I find myself too busy looking at Steve Carell’s wrist every time I see this movie (it’s strangely very rewatchable).
Baum is a tough nut to crack as a character. He is married to his work as a hedge fund manager at a small fund working under the banner of Morgan Stanley in New York City. He’s loud and scarred by the suicide of his brother. Fitting for a hedge fund guy, he wears a large – for his wrists – AAA best fake Rolex Submariner Date watches, what appears to be the reference 116610LN (the LN referring to the black dial, black bezel configuration). Where a more buttoned-up Wall Street type might’ve opted for a piece of haute horology in a precious metal just to show off, Baums’s “suit with no tie” style jives perfectly with the all-steel luxury replica Rolex Submariner watches.
This is a notable Rolex Submariner copy watches for sale because it’s the first Sub to feature the Rolex “super” case (i.e. beefier and more rectangular in shape), ceramic bezel, and Glidelock extension system on the clasp. It was introduced in 2010 and marked the continued evolution of the wholesale super clone Rolex sports watches line, which was kicked off by the GMT-Master II in 2007. It’s easy to sport this Swiss made Rolex replica watches from a distance and differentiate it from older Submariner models due to the shape of those thick lugs. It’s a very different case profile which the brand has since “corrected” when it upsized the model to 41mm in 2020.
But this particular cheap Rolex fake watches is notable for another reason in The Big Short. It’s a historical-ish film that takes place in the run-up to the financial crisis, between 2007 and 2008. So Baum wearing this watch is what the IMDB heads call a “goof” since it technically didn’t exist at that time, save for a plutonium-powered Delorian.
This kind of thing happens quite often in the movies. Unfortunately for the Swiss movements replica Rolex watches lovers it can be something of a pain point. Do we wish the prop master had flagged this inaccuracy? Of course we do. But it’s possible, if not likely, that this was Carell’s personal watch that he wanted to wear because he thought it fit his character (which it did). He is a known watch guy, seen most often with his Rolex GMT-Master II 116710 “Batman” – which he also wore on the Apple TV + series, The Morning Show – and occasionally, with his Submariner.
If you’re able to get past this time-traveling Rolex, there are some other pieces from the Crown that pop up in this film, as well. Jeremy Strong (pre-Kendall on Succession), who plays one of Baums’s fund guys Vinny Daniel, wears what looks to be a white dial Rolex Datejust Oysterquartz visible in a few scenes. And then there’s the late Anthony Bourdain, who has a brief cameo making a fish stew. In this scene, it appears as though he is wearing a steel Oyster Perpetual or Air King with a sunray blue dial. If anyone has a clear spot on that imitation Rolex watches store site, let us know in the comments.
When We’re Watching
In an eye-opening scene towards the middle of the film, Baum and Daniel take a trip over to Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the ratings agency, to find out why, in the face of mortgage delinquencies and subprime loan deterioration, the bonds are not being downgraded. They learn that the agency is afraid that if they don’t give the banks the ratings they want, they’ll go to another agency. As Baum asks the S&P employee, clearly appalled, “Are you four?” he crosses his arms and reveals his top Rolex Submariner replica watches [01:06:35]. But not before she exposes his surprise for what it really is, as she asks, “Is it perhaps in your interest to see the ratings change?”
Later in the film, Baum and his team learn that Morgan Stanley, their effective employer, is on the brink of total collapse with losses upwards of $15 billion. The scene shifts to Baum and his team seated at a restaurant table somewhere in NYC, trying to figure how they’ll proceed while they wait for their big payday as a result of shorting housing bonds. At this moment, Baum has his hands against his face. In a closeup [01:43:54], we see the burly, stainless steel and ceramic 2022 Rolex Submariner fake watches in nearly full view.