LOOKS PROMISING…ON PAPER
Money Monster
Review by Paul Preston
Despite the pedigree on display in the new of-the-moment drama, Money Monster, the whole doesn’t equal the sum of its parts.
George Clooney is miscast for the first time in a long time as Lee Gates, a Jim Cramer-type shallow host of a financial show on TV that’s more entertainment that news. Because it’s a movie, someone’s on their last day of work when the shit hits the fan, and that would be Julia Roberts’ character, Patty, producer of the show. The proverbial fan-hitting shit comes in the form of Jack O’Connell as Kyle Budwell, a 99%-er who invested in what Gates called a sure thing, only to see 60,000 go up in smoke. He infiltrates the studio during taping with a gun, then the movie happens.
The biggest aspect of Money Monster that kept from getting more wrapped up than I did was the film’s inability to make the stakes as big as they should have been. I don’t even know what I could suggest to change that, but the advancement of the plot from the start of the show taping through Budwell’s entrance through Budwell holding the show hostage unfolded without the urgency to really shock me. It just kinda all happened and Clooney’s reaction wasn’t as powerful as if I went up to him right now wherever he is and put a gun in his face. It felt a little too rudimentary.
Roberts and O’Connell fare better in the film. After Unbroken, one day O’Connell will have a project that overall gets the praise his performances do. Giancarlo Esposito shows up as a cop and is fun to watch, as ever, although my wife won’t have him be anything but Gus Fring from Breaking Bad. That’s on her. Dominic West shows up as the head of the financial firm whose misdoings cause all the market turmoil that upsets O’Connell, but his performance (and perhaps direction) is a little glib. These financial guys who gamble with our money for their profit are tremendous douchebags of the highest order. Really, outside of murderers, the worst kind of criminal, but I would have to think that with what’s playing out on Lee Gates’ show – still being broadcast – should affect West’s character SOME. No? When it’s suddenly a national event, it’s hard to believe anyone is free from affectation.
The script does do a good job of throwing problems at O’Connell and Clooney to make them have to team up in a way to ensure their survival. When the story changes locations, the plausibility goes out the window and the idea of two characters running into each other simply to finish telling the story is somewhat ridiculous.
On the film’s side is its depiction of dumb Americans. Personally, I think it’s dumb to invest in the stock market, as if any company is in it for the benefit of the investors, so dumb guy number one is Budwell. Other dumb Americans sit on the sideline of this movie quite a bit, from making inane Vine videos about the incident to returning to mundanity when it’s over to yelling and being general nuisances during it.
We’ve certainly earned the Jim Cramers and Lee Gateses of the world, it’s actually a shame that the movie wants you to root for their safety.
Directed by: Jodie Foster
Release Date: May 13, 2016
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Country: USA
Rated: R
Distributor: TriStar Pictures
