From director Jodie Foster comes yet another movie to address the greed of the financial sector: Money Monster. Other recent additions to this theme include Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Big Short, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Viewers will find that Money Monster is less intellectual and more of a nail-biter than some, while still being informative and convicting.
Lee Gates (George Clooney) is supremely confident and wildly successful with his hit TV show, Money Monster, where he combines gyrating dance moves and bombastic dialogue with his latest financial advice.
Everything is going really well for Gates until a devastated viewer decides to hijack his show at gunpoint. The gunman, Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), invested his entire savings in a company that Gates promised would make him rich. Instead the company — an investment firm called IBIS — promptly lost $800 million due to a “computer glitch” and left Kyle penniless.
When Kyle storms onto the live show with a handgun and a suicide vest, Gates’ producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) is in the control room and able to communicate with Gates through an invisible earpiece. She can also talk to the outside world, which is their only hope for rescue before the bomb vest is detonated. Together, Gates and Fenn must stall the unpredictable Kyle while figuring out how in the world $800 million simply disappears into thin air.
Overall my husband and I enjoyed the movie, although it lacks the enduring quality and polish of other Wall Street films. The premise felt totally unique though, and addressed a lot of fears and realities (gun control, TV personalities, giant conglomerates) that hold intense sway over our culture today.
“While the film did a great job of keeping us laughing and engaged all the way through,” said my husband Elliott, “it failed to satisfactorily answer some of its own worthwhile questions about the global financial system.”
For those interested in these themes, or a fan of these actors, the movie will be enjoyable and thought-provoking. Because of strong language and overall lack of resolution, though, some viewers may be glad to skip this one.
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Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Jodie Foster
Actors: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes
