Money
Monster
You
don’t need
to be a Wall Street guru to appreciate Money
Monster. You just need to be
someone who has a few bruises and
broken bones from what the world has done to working people in the last
10 years.
George Clooney stars as Lee Gates – a buffoonish financial
guru
who hosts a loud, boorish program on the Financial News Network. Part
Warren Buffet and part Jerry Springer, Lee is big on flash as he touts
the latest stocks and gyrates around the set with some dancers, kooky
graphics and even worse sound effects. This is why director Patty Fenn
(Julia Roberts) has found a new job, but she has a few more days left
here in Gomorrah.
Of course, today isn’t like every other day.
A massive computer glitch has caused a hot stock to tank, and Lee is
supposed to be joined by the company’s wunderkind CEO, Walt
Camby
(Dominic West), who has gone AWOL. Instead, Lee is greeted by a
disgruntled delivery man, Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), who
is
taking the studio hostage and straps a bomb to our affable host.
Kyle isn’t leaving until he
gets some
answers as to why the stock shockingly dropped, and why he lost every
penny he has.
Money Monster
is a very good action thriller
with writers Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore and Jim Kouf tossing in twist
after twist to keep the audience off guard with pleasant and
entertaining surprises. Pair that with director Jodie Foster setting a
crackling pace as the movie unfolds in real time, and Money
Monster
is a winner.
Sure, some developments won’t come as a surprise. Lee decides
to
start practicing the kind of journalism he should have been in engaging
in the whole time. The CEO isn’t AWOL for innocent reasons.
You
kind of know where this train is heading from the opening moments, but
the ride is fun.
Clooney delivers a typical strong Clooney performance as we watch him
transform Lee from a cocky, arrogant loner to a man scared for his life
to a reporter determined to find out the truth behind the web of lies
he bought into, while Roberts gets to be great again.
Instead of seeing the rote, soulless performance she gave in Mother’s
Day, she comes to life here as
the put upon director/producer who
has to take charge of a situation no one could ever prepare for.
Roberts brings depth and credibility to a character who easily could
have become as stereotypically over-the-top and ridiculous as all of
the other moments where Money
Monster becomes a parody and
condemnation of television and society.
Meanwhile, Foster does a wonderful job creating a mélange of
emotions as the audience experiences the events on screen. We have
sympathy for Kyle, yet, have good reasons to lose some respect for him.
We fear for Lee and Patty, yet, get to laugh at their sometimes comedic
reactions. Most of all, we root for the bad guys to get the comeuppance
they have avoided in real life.
Money Monster
is a more than solid film for
those adults who don’t own a Captain
America costume.
Money
Monster is rated R for language
throughout, some sexuality and brief violence.
98 Minutes
|