How do you make a 2 hour movie about the 2007 financial crisis without knowing anything about the reasons behind the crash? Ask the writer's behind this movie. Or better yet, watch it and learn nothing. The reasons behind the crash was inflated prices of assets, fueled by low federal interest rates. You simply cannot get around that, not even when you accept this dumbed-down version of events. Hollywood sometimes tries to make "smart" movies and fails, this is one of those failed attempts.