Perhaps it is all too easy to
dismiss ‘Money Monster,’ Jodie Foster’s big-screen directorial debut, as a
politically motivated polemic against corporate greed and misbehavior in our
“Occupy Wall Street” era of socio-economic discontent. That would be unfortunate, because ‘Money
Monster’ isn’t so much a politics-disguised-as-art statement as a riveting
crime thriller and fascinating study of desperation and the length at which a
person can go to seek answers when he has nothing left to lose.
Charismatic investment guru and
TV personality Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the star of a popular show on the
Financial Network in which he provides “can’t miss” stock market tips. On the show following the mysterious crash of
one such tip due to a “computer software glitch,” he was rudely interrupted by
down-on-his-luck deliveryman Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), who demanded
concrete answers for how he lost $60,000.00 on Gates’s surefire financial
advice. What followed is a tense life-and-death
hostage drama on live television which held the nation spellbound even as we, like
the movie’s villain, sought the answers for which he risked everything for.
Tightly plotted and snappily paced,
MM maintains its suspense throughout by parceling out its revelations slowly
and assuredly. George Clooney was
excellent as we witness his gradual transformation from Wall Street apologist
to sympathetic ally in his realization that you simply can’t explain something
like this away with a “glitch in the algorithm.” Julia Roberts was also in fine form as the show-runner
and producer, who displayed great equanimity and calmness throughout the whole
ordeal. MM may not be everyone’s cup of
tea, but those who keep an open mind will not be disappointed.
Grade: B+
Grade: B+
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