Money Monster

When it comes to big, sleek Hollywood productions about corruption within the financial industry, Money Monster is definitely no The Big Short.  But don't let that stop you from seeing it.  Director Jodie Foster has made a kinetic and thrilling movie with first-rate lead performances from George Clooney and Julia Roberts.  It may be thinly plotted, but you can't help but get involved with the movie's fast-paced real time storytelling that's a lot more intense than you might expect walking in.

If The Big Short was an in-depth and entertaining look at what goes on behind the scenes behind a financial meltdown, then Foster's film focuses on the effect that meltdown has on the common working man.  Clooney strikes the perfect balance here as Lee Gates, a guy who hosts a financial show called Money Monster on TV, but really is basically a clown or comedian in a suit and tie.  He uses a lot of gimmicks on his show as he dispenses money wisdom, such as song and dance numbers, dancing girls, and improvised sketches.  He's kind of like Jim Cramer from TV's Mad Money, only with even less subtlety.  His long-suffering producer, Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts, who is excellent here), only barely tolerates him, as does most of his staff.  In fact, Patty is considering leaving the show, but doesn't have the heart to tell him. 

One day during filming, a man sneaks onto the set armed with a gun and a vest of explosives, which he orders Lee Gates to put on live on camera.  This is Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell), a working stiff who put all of his meager savings into a company based on a tip Lee gave in a past episode.  Kyle has watched his investment go belly up due to a "glitch" in the computer system that was managing his money.  Now he wants revenge, not just on the guy who gave him the advice in the first place, but also on the man behind the company (Dominic West), whom no one can seem to find at the moment.  Kyle doesn't buy the story of a computer glitch, and thinks that there is a deeper corruption going on, and that the CEO of the company he invested in either knows about it, or is behind his money disappearing.  Kyle is convinced the financial system is rigged, and is going to use the live hostage situation to prove it.

The approach that Foster and her screenwriters take to telling the story is that of a real-time nail-biting thriller.  As the situation intensifies, we can see everyone struggling for control of the situation, even though nobody truly is when you sit and think about it.  Kyle seems to be having an inner battle with himself.  He knows he is right, but he has very little confidence in himself, and doesn't even seem to know if he can even go through with what he has started.  Things get even harder for him when the police track down his pregnant girlfriend, and have her lambast him live on the air through a comm link.  Lee Gates is essentially an entertainer dispensing empty financial wisdom (a role Clooney has a ball playing), and when faced with his life and death situation, he tries to talk his way out of it.  After all, talking is what he does on his show all the time.  But when Kyle won't listen, he is forced to be serious for perhaps the first time in his life, and begins to even sympathize with Kyle as he learns more about the situation, and the cover up that has occurred.

As for Patty, she is forced to be the calm of the storm brewing around her.  She dispenses words and advice to Lee through an earpiece, and does her best to keep the situation under control.  She is obviously frayed by the whole situation as it unfolds, but she knows she has to stay calm, and Roberts does a fantastic job in portraying these qualities.  It's a nice recovery after Roberts appeared in the miserable Mother's Day just two weeks ago.  It is the three lead performances that makes Money Monster so compelling to watch.  The script suffers somewhat from a lack of insight into the characters, and the way the situation ends probably could never happen in real life.  But we buy it because these actors make it convincing, and Foster's direction never lets up on the intensity for a second.  It's the kind of movie that is flawed, but still grabs you and refuses to let go while you are watching it.  I was personally completely invested, no matter how far-fetched certain elements seemed.

Besides, Money Monster doesn't want to be the blow off the lid kind of film like The Big Short was.  It wants to be an entertaining and intense action thriller, and at that, the movie is a success.  It's also a lot of fun, and is not afraid to have a sense of humor about itself from time to time.  Given the talent both on and off the camera, this movie is probably not as great as it could have been, but it's still a worthy effort and is definitely worth watching.

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