Money Monster
Money Monsteris a well-directed and well-acted dramatic thriller weighed down by heavy-handed social commentary and implausible plot beats.
Money Monsterrevolves around one Lee Gates ( George Clooney ) , the host ofMoney Monster : a highly pop financial web television set show and " infotainment " program where Lee provide advice to his viewers on how they can get rich by investing in stocks and " conning " the con artists of Wall Street . When Lee spend a penny the wrong call and tells those who are check from home to buy stock from the finance company IBIS - only for IBIS ' broth to inexplicably plummet far enough to result in a multi - hundred million dollar sign loss for the companionship - he thereafter finds himself taken hostage experience on - tune by Kyle Budwell ( Jack O’Connell ): a disillusionedMoney Monsterviewer who adorn ( and lost ) $ 60,000 by following Lee ’s advice .
Lee , along with his top - notchMoney Monsterproduction crew and dedicated producer Patty Fenn ( Julia Roberts ) , must then work in existent - time to keep himself alive by fulfilling Kyle ’s demands : to uncover the truth about what caused IBIS ' stock to rapidly pretermit $ 800 million in economic value in the first place . However , as Lee and Patty wash against the clock to forestall Kyle from kill anyone and carry out their " investigation " of what really happened , it starts to become unmortgaged that the accuracy behind IBIS ' financial release is more complicated than any of them could have imagined .
Money Monsteris a dramatic play / thriller that very much taps into the zeitgeist of 2016 , with its mistrust of Wall Street , the mainstream media , and the U.S. corporate sector in general . The moving-picture show also very much harken back to such landmark 1970s titles asDog Day AfternoonandNetworkin particular , in the mode that it compound satire and social comment with terse narrative - drive filmmaking . Money Monsterends up feeling kitschy for the same intellect , as this storytelling approach makes the film ’s message and watching add up off more as being preachy and ham - fisted by forward-looking picture standards - even asMoney Monstertakes stairs to paint its characters and situations in shades of Second Earl Grey , rather than black and blanched .
TheMoney Monsterscreenplay credited to Alan DiFore ( co - creator ofThe Bridge ) , Jim Kouf ( atomic number 27 - creator ofGrimm ) and Jamie Linden ( 10 Years ) is something of a mixed dish , taken as a whole . The first half of the motion-picture show ’s narrative start to develop Lee Gates - a not - so - subtle caricature of substantial - life " fiscal whiz " television set personalities like Jim Cramer - as being an intriguing and complicated protagonist , while at the same time juxtaposing him with Kyle : a working - course of study type who is step by step shown to be less of a simple dupe ( and thus , more interesting ) than he looks like at first . However , those character study are sabotage by the movie ’s second half , asMoney Monsterdevolves into being more of an implausible thriller where the characters serve as little more than mouthpieces to deliver the celluloid ’s overt social / political commentary .
On the other script , Money Monsteris a tightly - construct spectacular thriller , thanks to the efforts of director Jodie Foster and her collaborators behind the camera . Foster and director of photography Matthew Libatique ( Black Swan , Straight Outta Compton ) are good in their efforts to keep the film feel claustrophobic in terms of its visual style , at the same meter that they supply more pernicious social comment with recurring shots and cutaways to the various hoi polloi who are watching theMoney MonsterTV show spectacle extend within the film itself . Money Monsterlacks the stylistic flourishes that have tell apart similarly socially - witting genre movies from the past decennary ( Inside Man , which Foster co - starred in , being one example that come to mind ) , but the film ’s economical figure allows it to maintain a leaner running game time and better tempo than it might have achieved otherwise .
Money Monsterstrives to set off its more suspensive and tense sequence by having comedic moments dot through its three - act narrative , but the movie scramble to flux darkly comical satire with politically - charge drama and the result event is often tonic whip . Clooney and Roberts aid to better sell these dramatic and humorous plot beat generation likewise with their various performances . The Lee Gates character go on a predictable , but still worthwhile , journey of personal growth here , as Clooney aptly manage the view where Lee is arrogant and charmingly sleazy , as well as his moments of vulnerability when he realizes that he really is n’t " The Smartest Guy in the Room " after all . Roberts ' part Patty Fenn is shown to be the real head behind theMoney MonsterTV show , providing Roberts the fortune to create a portrayal of someone who ’s confident and equal to , but lacks the personality and salesmanship of her " boss " .
Jack O’Connell ( Unbroken ) delivers a fine carrying into action as Kyle Budwell ( debates about his East Coast stress aside ) and some ofMoney Monster ’s unattackable scenes are the 1 where the plastic film render that both he and Lee are less in - control ( and , to be frank , pathetic ) than either of them fancies themselves to be . However , as designate before , Kyle is reduce to being more of a plot equipment than anything else through the picture ’s 2nd half , as the tale ’s focus instead shifts to IBIS ' Chief Communications Officer Diane Lester and CEO Walt Camby , as diddle by Caitriona Balfe ( Outlander ) and Dominic West ( The Affair ) , severally . While Balfe and West are both solid in their roles , theirMoney Monstercharacters are not compelling enough to vindicate the shift away from the conflict between Lee , Patty , and Kyle . Money Monsteralso fails to provide its talented supporting cast of characters ( which includesBreaking Bad ’s Giancarlo Esposito ) with much to do other than play stock hold fictional character in the fib ( the seasoned police officer , the comically put - upon assistant , and so forth ) .
Money Monsteris a well - directed and well - acted spectacular thriller count down by heavy - handed societal commentary and implausible plot pulsation . The movie admirably make an effort to deflect pointing the finger of blame for the present - 24-hour interval societal / political problems that it calls attending to at any undivided group of citizenry , butMoney Monsterprioritizes blunt " messaging " over compelling storytelling ( wherein the messages arise more organically from the tale ) , to its detriment . Filmgoers in the climate for some low - key counter - program to the batch of full-grown - budget tentpoles that are now play in theaters may find this relatively grounded ( and intellectual ) thriller to be a refreshing alteration of gait - and thus , may be more forgiving of its flaws . Unfortunately , like its supporter , Money Monsterisn’t as savvy or forward of the curve as it believe itself to be .
TRAILER
Money Monsteris now playing in U.S. theaters nationwide . It is 98 minute farseeing and is Rated R for nomenclature throughout , some sensualism and brief violence .
An ireful Wall Street investor take the crew of the television programMoney Monsterhostage dwell on line after the farm animal market crashes . Host Lee Gates and manufacturer Patty Fenn must discover a way to stay alive while unveil the truth behind a snarl of big money lies .
Julia Roberts as Patty Fenn in Money Monster
Julia Roberts as Patty Fenn in Money Monster
