[yasr_overall_rating]
Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.
Money (or rather those who have money and like to tell people what to do with it) seems to be taking a beating this year. Films like “Money Monster,” and “The Big Short,” seem to be cropping up more often, perhaps as a response or reflection of the discontent and divide of “the people.” One life rule I have always thought reasonable is to never, under any circumstances, toy with another person’s money and don’t be the fool someone else has to pity because you decided to attempt to get rich quick. All it takes is a dash of greed and a smiling face to ensnare a fool into the sticky webs of big money, and there are plenty a fools and faces to keep the machine turning. But what happens when a fool fights back? Jodie Foster’s “Money Monster,” gives us a sad clown Clooney and a voice of reason Roberts to take a stab at that question, and although it takes a turn for the ridiculous, it’s a fun watch.
George Clooney is Lee Gates, the cartoonish star of a financial entertainment show, fully equipped with top hats, dancers, and flashy clips from murderous flicks. He is the guy we all want to give us no-brainer investment tips, an obnoxious infomercial salesman who’s rolling in his millions and doesn’t think to care what he says might have real consequences. He comes face to face with real consequences when Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), a disgruntled fan who has lost everything on one of Lee’s “no-brainers,” comes bearing the gift of bomb vests and a loaded gun. After Lee, a man with a tactless tongue, is forced into a vest, it is the level headed Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), the producer of the show, and voice in Lee’s ear, that abates the alarming hostage situation to the best of her ability. It’s a show no one will soon forget.
There is of course a much larger situation going on. Ibis Clear Capital’s stock has tanked overnight due to a “glitch.” There is a huge amount of money blotted out of existence and no one has answers and the CEO of the company, Walt Camby (Dominic West), who was meant to be a guest on Lee’s show, is conveniently unreachable. It’s a “who stole the cookies from the cookie jar” situation with explosives. With the help of Camby’s right hand man (or rather woman), Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe), Patty, while helping Lee stall the potential demise of everyone in the building, turns this live hostage situation into a live investigation of the money glitch. The nation is watching, consumed by what is unfolding before them and actively participating as if it were some reality show challenge.
Padded with comedy throughout, I can’t knock Foster’s “Money Monster,” too much as I was thoroughly entertained. For what could have been a terribly slow or overly predictable hostage thriller, the dark drops of humor help keep the ball moving and the cast carries it well. But in all honesty, after having seen a few financial crisis films so close together, all of which are curiously padded with humor, I am craving a film with a little more heft for a situation that is much darker and deeper than we’d like to recognize.
In theaters Friday May 13th
