Considering this is a pretty intense movie about a desperate guy threatening to shoot and blow up people, this movie had moments of unexpected humour. The whole cinema was laughing at various points. Which was very cleverly done by director, Jodie Foster. The movie is well scripted and well acted. Clooney and Roberts clearly enjoy working together (just don't remind me of Ocean's 12). I agree with the other reviewer who said the movie should have just stopped with the return to the foosball table, and not gone for the schmaltzy hospital scene. Not the greatest movie of the year and not Oscar-worthy, but well worth the price of the movie ticket. Can't understand why it's only got a rating of 6.8 on IMDb.
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mailes2212 June 2016
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This is one of few real time films -meaning the flow of events matches the duration of the film- that is quite successful in keeping the viewer's attention all along, and Jodie Foster is very efficient as a director presenting what seems initially a daunting technical subject (how a computer "glitch" causes an 800 Million Dollar loss to shareholders in a public traded company) as a dramatic thriller that never looses pace.
The cast is excellent, Julia Roberts as the ever conscious producer calculating how each camera angle is best to follow on the unfolding live drama, George Clooney in one of his finest roles as the careless theatrical advice giver of the money program who gradually comes to realize how damaging his show is to the masses (in one particular touching scene he is in the street in NY and sees on-lookers imitating his dance moves on the show, and he becomes aware of what a buffoon he is), and finally Jack O'Connel who is very convincing as the candid investor who really wants to know how "the system" works (casting him was an inspired choice, he is not a well-known actor so he adds more credibility to the character he plays, a simple man from the street who looses all his money in Wall Street). None of the main or even secondary characters in the film are one dimensional, they have their problems (like lonely dinners for some) and concerns and values, whether it is the camera man or the public relations lady officer reporting to the big CEO, or even the main police officers in charge, all are multi-dimensional characters and their human aspects are not ignored.
Even though the film deals with a serious subject, an eye opener leading one to wonder about the real money monsters out there, it remains an excellent thriller with top class actors. -
ginocox-206-33696813 August 2016"Money Monster" begins brilliantly. The opening scenes set in a television studio seem authentic on a very detailed level. The pace is frantic and various characters and subplots are introduced organically. The direction is assured, acting is superb and production values are excellent. The first act offers every assurance this will be a compelling drama, if not an instant classic.
But then it loses momentum. The hostage/revenge plot is too boneheaded to maintain interest for long and the underlying defalcation makes no sense at all. An average Joe invests $60M in the stock of a company that loses $800MM in a single day, causing its stock to lose about 85% of its value. The guy then complains that he's lost everything he had. Granted, he took a huge beating, but he should still have stock worth about $10M, unless he purchased on margin, but we don't know. Then we learn the company has a fleet of corporate jets, at least one of which is a Lear Jet 85 with a base sticker price of $20.8MM. If the company is large enough to have perhaps $75-150MM invested in jets, one wouldn't expect even a $800MM loss to have such a devastating effect. But why is this average Joe buying equity shares? Wouldn't he ordinarily invest in some investment fund or pool managed by the company? There is another scheme to artificially depress another company's stock in order to earn billions on the defalcated $800MM. But for this to work, that company would need to lose about 75% of its market value and then rebound. The mechanics, timing and scale make no sense at all and there is no way the villain could expect to pull it off without getting caught. He would have done better trying to smuggle cocaine on his Lear. But DeLorean already tried something like that and it didn't turn out well.
But maybe it doesn't need to make sense. After all the recent financial scandals, the burst of the housing bubble, Greece, Brexit, the precarious state of pension funds and the imminent bankruptcy of the Social Security trust fund, perhaps movie audiences don't need much evidence to assume some slick financial type is a villain.
At one point, Clooney's Gates character tells the villain that his scheme isn't complicated. That's the problem. The plot needs a brilliant scheme that requires Gates's unique skills and efforts to unravel. Instead, it is a rather obvious plot that Roberts's Fenn unravels behind the scenes with the assistance of a character turned whistle-blower for reasons that aren't explored sufficiently to make them credible, with the assistance of a group of hackers who are able to find an obscure bit of evidence on a surveillance camera that would be zoomed in at nothing but an empty patch of ground if a couple of people hadn't decided to frame themselves perfectly while one of them incriminated himself.
The police involvement seems authentic initially, but stretches credibility during a bizarre sort of chase scene and culminates in an inexplicable act of violence against an individual who has gained widespread sympathy while recorded on live television.
The story would have been stronger if the average Joe had invested money that he had earned and saved, rather than life insurance proceeds – perhaps an accumulated pension from working at a company for a long time and then being laid off due to economic circumstances.
The taste of death moment seems contrived.
Gates lacks a character arc. He recommended an investment that turned sour in part because an executive at the company proved to be disreputable and in part because nobody seems to know what the company actually does, other than deliver impressive profits. It turns out that the company doesn't know what they do either, as their much- touted trading algorithm was actually developed by a Korean programmer. In the final scene, Gates asks Fenn what they will do for the next program and neither one knows. His question may have been intended as humorous, as in how to top the drama of that day's events, but also reveals that he hasn't learned anything. He made a poor choice that cost the investors who relied upon his advice a lot of money. Tomorrow, he needs to make another recommendation, but he hasn't learned anything to guide him. Despite various implications that the system is rigged against the little guy, everything Gates has learned only applies to this one company. He was fooled and the public was defrauded. But nothing has happened to provide the public with better protection or to enable Gates to make better choices. -
In Money Monster, George Clooney plays a TV presenter who is taken hostage live on camera by a desperate young man played by the brilliant Jack O'Connell. I really enjoyed this film; finding it thrilling and well paced throughout. However, it falls short of being completely satisfying.
Six months ago, The Big Short - a far superior film - attempted to tackle the full complexity of the 2008 financial crisis and its causes and did so in a way that was both enlightening and entertaining. Money Monster is more like Phone Booth. In this movie the credit crunch is merely the setting for a tense thrill ride; which is OK except it feels like it's aiming to be more substantial.
I've heard Jodie Foster, the director, say that the seventies will always be her favourite era because movies took such risks back then. Her key influences here are clearly Network and Dog Day Afternoon. Perhaps this is the problem. It feels like a 1970s style take on a 21st Century issue. Thanks in part to other recent movies we already have a more sophisticated appreciation of the reality of the financial sector.
But I still really enjoyed Money Monster. George Clooney strikes the right balance as the likable scoundrel who just needs a gun to the head in order to realise how far down the wrong path he has travelled. And Jack O'Connell is probably my favourite actor of this decade. Just as he did in Starred Up or Eden Lake, this young man threatens to break though the screen and grab hold of you. Electrifying.
In the end I see this film as a fable and a romp. It is lots of fun. The ending just seemed a bit Hollywood. If you want to see a film that explores the impact that the financial crisis had on regular people I highly recommend the underrated 99 Homes. -
ma-cortes6 August 2022An interesting movie dealing with extreme critique to TV networks with a great cast giving tour-de-force interpretations. Concerning a successul financial TV host named Lee Gates (George Clooney) and his hard-working producer, Patty (Julia Roberts), are put in a thorny situation when an irate investor (Jack O'Connell) who has lost everything takes them and their crew as hostage . During a tense standoff broadcast to millions on live TV, Lee and Patty must work furiously against the clock to unravel the mystery behind a conspiracy at the heart of today's fast-paced and twisted global economy . The captor soon forces the pair to probe a set-up involving the high-tech international markets. The presenter and his kidnapper at the edge of a mental breakdown turn into a celebrities while the program is TV broadcasting and boosts the ratings to such an extent amplitude . Not every conspiracy is a theory. Answer or die. On the air. Out of time. Who's in control ? . Follow The Money. Anyone who can get out, get out right now.
A scathing indictment of the TV industry and its propensily towards ambition , self-prostitution and real critique to corruption of the high-tech global markets . In the real-time, high stakes thriller Money Monster, George Clooney and Julia Roberts star as successful TV presenter Lee Gates and his producer Patty, who are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor forcefully takes over their studio then resulting in paranoia , violence and some unpredictable results. Black satire taking a savage, cruel bite at the American television , its anchormen, the shares that rule the executives who work in it and the powerful international companies what take advantage of modest shareholders . Thought-provoking and ironical script that takes ideas from the prestigious Paddy Chayefsky' s Network. The individual roles are startling well drawn and the interpretation is magnificent. George Clooney is excellent as an excessive and vociferous Television newcaster , though he gives overacting while announces ups and downs at the stock exchange ratings , providing a strident interpretation that threatens to overbalance the movie , at times . While Julia Roberts displays a sober acting as the ambitious executive who will stop at nothing to triumph . Remaining secondary cast is very good such as Dominic West , Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Denham , Lenny Venito , Chris Bauer, Dennis Boutsikaris , and special mention for the attractive Caitríona Balfe as Diane Lester.
It contains an adequate and colorful cinematography by Matthew Libatique , as well as atmospheric musical score by composer Dominic Lewis . The motion picture was magnetically directed by Jodie Foster , providing a lavishly mounted vehicle for three great actors George Clooney , Julia Roberts and Jack O'Connell . Actress/director Jodie Foster has a long career that spans over forty years . Despite the fact that Jodie never took acting lessons, she received two Oscars before she was thirty years of age. She received her first award for her part as Sarah Tobias in Accused (1988) and the second one for her performance as Clarice Starling in The silence of the lambs (1991). Jodie has directed some films with success enough , such as : The Beaver , Home for holidays , Little Tate , and some episodes from known TV series : House of Cards , Tales from the Darkside Stephen King's Golden Tales, Black Mirror , Orange Is the New Black and Tales from the Loop. Money Monster (2016) rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average , well worth watching . The flick will appeal to George Clooney and Jodie Foster fans. -
ianhornbaker12 May 2016Money Monster features George Clooney as one those loud obnoxious Finance TV hosts. It also features Julia Roberts as the shows director. However, when an angry investor played by Jack O'Connell, breaks into the studio and holds George Clooney hostage till he gets some answers, George Clooney has to do anything he can to stay alive.
I originally went into this movie with relatively low expectations. I thought the plot was going to be predictable and boring, but overall, I found it to be very entertaining.
The Good:
The performances. You can always expect a good performance from George Clooney And you can honestly say the same thing about Julia Roberts. That being said this is the 3rd movie that features Jack O'Connell in a leading role and let me just say that he is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. At this point, I think he can do no wrong.
The next thing I liked were the clichés in the movie. This movie reminded me a lot of John Q in that it is a normal person standing up for something he knows is right, even though the means might not have been the best. That being said, even though many of the hostage clichés that you get in movies like John Q, the Negotiator, and The Inside Man, are still here the result of the clichés took a completely different turn. So although I thought they were going to be cliché, they actually turned out to be completely unique.
Money Monster was also surprisingly funny. Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't call it a comedy by any stretch of the imagination because there were moments that were roll-you-eyes obnoxious, most of which came from the TV shows production, but there were definitely moments where I found myself laughing out loud.
The Ehh:
As I said already I liked how the movie would start a plot point with a cliché and then completely turn it on it's head. I only wish the same thing could be said about the ending. I figured out roughly how the movie was going to end by about 5 minutes into the movie. It was pretty obvious where they were going, but it was still refreshing how they ended up getting there.
The Bad:
The dang TV show that George Clooney's character hosted. I can't stand shows like Mad Money, and Money Monster is an extreme version of that. Luckily the main story line started pretty quickly so I didn't have to see too much of it.
Recommendation:
Even though Money Monster is your typical hostage thriller with a predictable ending, the great acting and surprising twists keep you guessing and at the edge of your seat. For those reasons I recommend that this movie should be seen in theaters. Visit Unpopped Review for more movie review from a movie lover, not a movie critic. -
There are a couple of things to note right up front about Money Monster, the first film directed by Jodie Foster in quite some time and reuniting Clooney and Roberts (remember them from the Ocean's Eleven flicks? or, you know, the two they were in together? good times) - first, I think it's important that if you do decide to go see this movie, see it in a theater (I'd say a matinée price works best, maybe not quite full price). It's the kind of movie that Lynda Obst has outlined in her book 'Sleepless in Hollywood' as being as something of an endangered species: the middle budget Hollywood genre movie with some big name stars and a plot that's appealing to a mass audience (so it's not quite an "indie" movie, but it's not something that crosses 100 million with elaborate special effects).
Though these movies became a bit tiring (or more than a bit depending on who you are) by the early 00's, in the landscape where there's either comic book movies (Marvel, DC, etc) or comic book movies in look and tone as franchises (Fast & Furious, Hunger Games, etc), a story like this where a guy holds a Jim Kramer type of cable 'news' personality and his crew hostage on live TV seems almost refreshing, at least as far as being something that's only pretense is that, you know, the economy collapsed not too long ago and confidence in things like the stock market should suck (though it seemed to have rebounded not too soon after 2008), and it's made professionally.
The other thing to note here is that just because it's a highly entertaining dramatic thriller as far as the nuts-and-bolts of such a thing are put together - the actors are just right, with Roberts being the anchor for things to not get out of control as the director of the show, and even small players like Dominic West as the CEO of the company that (seemingly) screwed over Jack O'Connell's gun-and-bomb toting show hijacker, and Clooney's Clooney so that's good - it doesn't meant there aren't flaws.
You've seen this before if you've seen, I don't know, Dog Day Afternoon or John Q (the latter's lessor than this but you may get an idea, the "Just hostage-taker" scenario), and even Inside Man, which featured Foster in a supporting role. Things to do with logic like the amount of security that should/would be in an area where a major cable show is being produced, or how the whole last third unfolds (and if you've seen the trailer, and it's hard to avoid it if you've been to the movies in the past few months, it shows you this section in pieces so you anticipate it) is implausible.
But there's a lot of good drama to mine here, and buried underneath its quick and fast-paced plot mechanics it does have something to say about not just how the American people continually get duped into things like going for stocks (or at least the ones who can afford it or try to like O'Connell's working class character), but the power of celebrity. There's a wonderful little scene where Clooney's Lee Gates tries to dissuade this bomb-that's-going-to-go-off scenario by talking to the tens of millions (I should think more, depending on who has cable around the world, but I digress) and appeals to them to contribute money so that the stock can bulk up for the company that screwed over O'Connell's character. It's the kind of performance where it feels like a performance, but in a good way: it's self-knowing and Clooney plays up to it, and when the outcome of this happens (and it's not pleasant) the emphasis on this whole 'image' that Lee Gates has perpetuated comes back to bite him in the ass.
So there's a lot of little sections that work and good character actors sprinkled throughout (Esposito, Jim Warden, John Ventimiglia), and it all boosts up what is fairly conventional and yet everything is there for the drama of this type of movie. Its even funny, in a bleak, sardonic sort of way, in a few moments (and one that's kind of weak, let's say it involves a sort of cream for your area that's, oh nevermind). I wish it was a little more strong with certain story details, but it's comforting in a way even as character yell and curse and stand-offs happen and rise and fall. Put it another way, if you want a less 'cluttered' take on stock fraud than The Big Short, look here, and if you want to spend some time away and to watch something with a few good Hollywood superstars, it's good on that end. -
Cable financial guru Lee Gates (George Clooney) is in the midst of airing the latest edition of his show, "Money Monster." Less than 24 hours earlier, IBIS Global Capital's stock inexplicably cratered due to a glitch in a trading algorithm, costing investors $800 million. Lee planned to have IBIS CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West) appear for a softball interview about the crash, but Camby unexpectedly left for a business trip in Geneva.
Midway through the show, a deliveryman ambles onto the set, pulls a gun and takes Gates hostage, forcing him to put on a vest laden with explosives. The "deliveryman" is laborer Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell), who invested $60,000—his entire life savings, inherited from his deceased mother—in IBIS after Lee endorsed the company a month earlier on the show. Kyle was wiped out along with the other investors, and now wants answers. Unless he gets them, he will blow up Lee before killing himself. Once police are notified, they discover that the receiver to the bomb's vest is located over Lee's kidney. The only way to destroy the receiver—and with it, Kyle's leverage—is to shoot Lee and hope he survives.
With the help of longtime director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), Lee tries to calm Kyle down and get him some answers. However, Camby is nowhere to be found, and Kyle is not satisfied when both Lee and IBIS chief communications officer Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe) offer to compensate him for his financial loss. He also is not satisfied by Diane's insistence that the algorithm is to blame. Diane is not satisfied by her own explanation either, and decides to contact the programmer who created the algorithm for answers, reaching a man in Seoul. The programmer insists that an algorithm could not take such a large, lopsided position unless a human meddled with it.
In the meantime, the police find Kyle's pregnant girlfriend and allow her to talk to Kyle through a video feed. When she learns that he lost everything, she viciously berates him before the police cut the feed. Lee, seemingly taking pity on Kyle, agrees to help Kyle discover what went wrong.
Once Camby arrives back in New York, Diane goes through his passport. She discovers that he didn't go to Geneva at all, but to Johannesburg. With this clue, along with messages from Camby's phone, Patty and the "Money Monster" team contact a group of Icelandic hackers to try and discover the truth. After a police sniper takes a shot at Lee and misses, he and Kyle resolve to corner Camby at Federal Hall, where Camby is headed according to Diane. They head out with one of the network's cameramen, the police, and a mob of fans and jeerers alike. They barely manage to corner Camby, and after ensuring that he will not run away, they finally confront him with the full story, with video evidence obtained by the hackers.
It turns out that Camby bribed a South African miners' union, planning to have IBIS make an $800 million investment in the mine while the union was on strike. If Camby's plan had succeeded, IBIS would have generated a multi-billion dollar profit when work resumed at the mine and the stock of the mine's owner rose again. However, the gambit backfired when the union stayed on the picket line, causing IBIS' stock to sink under the weight of its position in the flailing mining company. Confronted with the evidence, Camby admits his swindle. Satisfied, Kyle kills himself by allowing the police to shoot him after throwing the detonator away. -
wellthatswhatithinkanyway12 June 2016STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the brash, arrogant presenter of financial show the Money Monster, which offers advice on how best to invest your savings. Aided by his forthright producer Patty (Julia Roberts), he starts the day with a typically extroverted show-until an uninvited intruder named Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) hijacks the show, and demands Gates be held to account for some bad advice he offered that resulted in Budwell losing all his money. As the hostage situation intensifies, the two men find the cause of both their problems may be events happening much further down the chain.
Jodie Foster steps back behind the camera for this timely tale, involving corporate greed and the fallout. Setting the themes of monetary hardship and retribution against the template of a standard real time thriller, of the type they used to make really well in the '90s, Money Monster has a fairly genuine air of suspense about it, and plays out in a manner you may not expect it to, although it's still fairly flawed as a film , and is certainly not as much in this vein as it could be.
It's all going rather swimmingly, playing out in a fairly standard, connect the dots manner from one hostage situation cliché to another, almost as if it's coming from the rule book for such films, but nonetheless keeping you on the seat edge wondering how it's going to play out. Then as there seems to be some resolution, it all goes pear shaped and descends into an overblown and fairly nonsensical final showdown with CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West) and his cohort Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe) that loses it some credibility.
Performances wise, as the leading man, Clooney assumes the older statesman role, looking older and greyer than his heartthrob days, but gaining a little more conviction as a result. Meanwhile, as the protagonist, O'Connell manages a fairly good Queens accent and is a pleasing coy to Clooney. With a support cast of the likes of Roberts, West and Lester, you certainly have star power, and about the same script power too, until the end. *** -
lavatch8 September 2016Directed by Jodie Foster, "Money Monster" rehashes the cliché film dramatization of Wall Street fraud and the commonplace Americans who are the big losers in a tycoon's greed.
George Clooney and Julia Roberts have good chemistry as the star television talking head Lee Gates and his hard-working producer Patty Fenn. The simplistic story is that of a "hostage drama" when Gates is held captive in the studio by a crazed investor who has lost his fortune due to a Wall Street scammer and the advice given over the air by Gates. The plot unfolds with Gates and Fenn actually bonding with the terrorist to get to the bottom of malfeasance on the part of the CEO of a company called IBIS.
With the primary setting a television broadcast studio, this film might have worked better as a made-for-TV movie, as opposed to a feature film. Most of the action was predictable, and much of it was also unbelievable. The relationship of the young terrorist and his wife was entirely unconvincing. And the inaction on the part of the SWAT team, who had successfully surrounded the terrorist both in the studio and outdoors, was equally improbable.
In the end, "Money Monster" was a formula film that should not provide any surprises to viewers. The only cliché that was missing from the film was a slow crawl across the screen that reads, "Based on a True Story." -
Lee Gates(George Clooney) an over the top T.V. host of the show called Money Monster, in which he helps people make and save money, is suddenly having a dog day afternoon when he and his studio is taken hostage by Kyle(Jack O'Connell) cause he went broke over bad advice he took from the show. A bomb is put on Lee, with the help of his producer(Julia Roberts), we wonder if Lee will get out of this alive?
George Clooney is awesome here, for the most part is being himself, but then he really gives it his all. Julia Roberts is also great, she does pretty well for someone who is stuck in one area, she plays it so real. Jack O'Connell is quite intense here, you don't know weather to like or dislike him. Jodie Fosters direction is good in spots, but the other parts it gets quite lazy, there are funny moments, but they come in at the wrong time, and Kyle has a pregnant girlfriend, thinking she is gonna become a big part of the film, nope she is introduced and is gotten rid of pretty quickly, no follow up nothing. And the way this movie ends is also very lazy, it's like the writers didn't really know how to end this.
But still a pretty good thriller, like a puzzle you are trying to put together, and when those scenes happen, keeps you on the edge of your seat. Clooney and O' Connell work pretty well together. -
neil-47630 May 2018Lee Gates hosts a successful TV show about investment tips. Posing as a deliveryman, Kyle Budwell invades the show, hangs a bomb vest round Gates' neck, and threatens to blow him up live on air unless he gets an explanation as to why an investment tipped by Gates left him penniless. As time slips away, the police try to figure out how to shoot Budwell without activating the deadman switch he holds.
Money Monster - the name of Gates' TV show - is a simple, straightforward thriller. The linear story has no great plot twists, there are no huge surprises other than a general uncertainty as to exactly how it will end and, in many ways, this is a completely routine example of this type of movie.
But it has three great performances at its centre. Up and coming English 25-year old Jack O'Connell as Kyle, gives a portrait of a man who is juggling a number of different problems, any one of which could push him over the edge and possibly already has. He is seriously scary and hugely sympathetic at the same time, a monster hiding a mouse.
Julia Roberts, a serious contender for My Least Favourite Actress, is very good indeed as studio producer Patty. Just about to quit and take another job, she remains in place and uses incredible resourcefulness to keep both Lee and Kyle alive while simultaneously trying to track down the true story of what happened to Kyle's investment.
And George Clooney as Lee shows us a man who is vain, thoughtless, shallow and cowardly, yet who hasn't entirely lost touch with decent values as he endures a situation which turns out to be something of an epiphany for him.
What happened to Kyle's investment isn't vastly surprising, although the details of it and the piecemeal discovery are quite good fun towards the end of the movie. If I had a criticism, it is that there are wider issues (the morality of high finance generally) which are not addressed, but that doesn't matter too much: the film is mostly screamingly suspenseful. I'm not offering any spoilers about the ending, though - you'll just have to go and see it.
Jodie Foster's direction, the performances, and a decent script elevate this straightforward thriller to well above average. -
SPOILER ALERT
I simply cannot believe the positive reviews on this movie. It was in a word....terrible. The theme was important-that the (financial) system is "rigged" and perhaps that was what attracted a big name like George Clooney to it. I think the only redeeming quality of the movie was George Clooneys acting, which he seems to do so effortlessly.
But the execution of this movie was laughable. There are simply too many ridiculous and non believable actions by humans in this movie to list here, and I've forgotten more ridiculous things than I have remembered. But, it ruined the movie.
First, the obvious one that has been mentioned before. There is simply NO WAY a producer would decide to keep a hostage taker live on the air like the way she did. The hostage taker was obviously an idiot with no understanding of the technicalities of a TV show production, and would have not known whether he was live on the air or not. The movie lost most of its credibility within a very short time after it began because of this.
A few things other things that I do remember were especially comical. The movie seemed to be written by someone who has ZERO understanding of the financial markets/investment industry. That would be OK, except that the whole movie was focused on this industry. The fact that the writers/director didn't care to do their homework is representative of the laziness and lack of detail that you see over and over again in this film. For instance, the term "algo" was used countless times with seemingly no understanding of what an algo does or its potential ability to move a stock price for an extended period of time (and none of the people who were supposedly in the investment industry seemed to know in the movie either).
So many math problems too! The hostage taker in the movie supposedly bought the stock of IBIS Pharma at $75/share (mentioned by Clooney), and the companys stock price during the hostage taking (after an "algo attack") dropped it $8/share where is was during the film. Clooney mentioned that the hostage taker lost 60% on the stock, but this would have been an almost 90% drop. The hostage taker said he "lost $60K" with the stock drop, and at a later time the detectives learned that the hostage taker had gotten $60K exactly from his mother which he put all in this stock. Well, he would have then lost 60% or 90% of the $60K right? And he only would have lost that money if he had actually sold the stock, but based on what happened in the movie (when Clooney was trying to get the public to buy the stock to make him whole again) he was still holding the stock. Also, Clooney said he wanted to "triple" the stock to make the hostage taker whole but really that would have only gotten the stock back into the $20's, far from where he he bought the stock at $75K. The lack of attention to detail drove this viewer crazy!
There was a mention in the movie that the company in the middle of the whole controversy "had all of its pensions depleted", as if the stock price of this specific company had any affect on the value of its pensions (which would be diversified in any corporation into bonds/stocks, etc, NOT invested solely in its own company stock!). Furthermore it seemed to be the case that IBIS's OWN algo was responsible was its stock price dipping 90%, as if IBIS would be in the business of controlling its own stock with an algo, which is highly illegal (and impossible for an extended period of time). No one in the industry seemed to think this was an usual thing. Later in the movie there was some Asian genius that appeared for a minute that seemed to know all about the algo, and made some seemingly profound statement like "its just math" and said there was no way an algo could be completely responsible for dropping a stock price 90% for an extended period of time. He said this as if 100% of the people in the investment industry would not have known this already.
You also had a hostage taker walking the streets of NY with a gun and a bomb and a hostage, and the NYPD seemed to think it was OK to allow pedestrians withing spitting distance from the man, and when the man opened fire on the crowd, the police said "dont shoot" (at the hostage taker)? Are you kidding me?
It was an F. -
Suspenseful and entertaining movie that i was into throughout. lots of memorable moments and really funny parts. overall a very enjoyable experience (1 viewing)
SPOILERS
I really liked how they had two moments where the opposite of what I was expecting happened. One was when he was trying to raise the stock prices and it just failed. Another is when they brought his pregnant girlfriend on. I thought for sure they were use her to make him feel bad and stop what he was doing. But instead she did the exact opposite and made the situation way worse. I was also satisfied with the ending -
moviefanatic-7465413 May 2016Money Monster is financial crime thriller directed by Jodie Foster. It centers around Lee Gates (George Clooney) a financial reporter and Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), his executive producer as they are in the midst of a hostage situation being run by Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) as he attempts to get answers as to why 800 million dollars was lost by a financial company that Gates recommended everyone buy stock in.
Being that the majority of the film takes place in a secluded area with our three main characters, Jodie Foster does a great job making sure that the film never feels claustrophobic. Part of this is due to the performances of George Clooney and Jack O'Connell. The two of them spend the majority of the screen time together and they have great chemistry. It almost reminded me of the strange yet surprisingly believable chemistry between Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad. Throughout the hour and forty minute run length, the two of these characters have extremely development that is represented extremely well by the two of their performances. They each portray a believable character as we see under each of their fake personalities and truly digest the fact that they are just regular people.
Throughout the entire film, my heart was pounding. The tension was extremely well written and directed as we are constantly worried that Budwell's thumb could slip at the slightest of moments. The movie doesn't just use one type of tension--it moves some scenes slow and other scenes are much more fast paced. But I can tell you this; throughout the whole film, I was on the edge of my seat, constantly waiting to see what would happen next. A lot of this is due to the well done pacing. The mix between humor, drama and tension made the film feel more realistic. When the movie went from drama to action based, it felt natural as opposed to being forced onto the audience for the sake of just having an action scene.
Now let's get into why this film isn't phenomenal. First of all, the sheer predictability of the film. From about 10 minutes in, I knew exactly how the movie was going to end. This did take away from the film for me, as there were times that I almost wasn't nervous for the characters as the big "twist" at the end could be seen coming from a mile away.
Julia Roberts was just okay in this movie. She didn't necessarily take away from the film, but she certainly didn't add to the quality of it with her performance. She felt somewhat bland at points and only had a couple of moments where she really came out to shine
The beginning 10 minutes was extremely rushed. An extra few minutes onto the film wouldn't have killed them. Instead, it probably would have helped them. Kyle is on the set within at least 5 minutes of the film and it would have been nice to have a little more introduction to Gates and to see a little more about the crash that happened with the market.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film. It held my attention and had believable pacing, but the predictability did take away a far bit for me.
7/10 -
Giacomo_De_Bello12 May 2016Despite a failure to realize its full potential and become something like this decade's "Inside Man", which ironically Jodie Foster stars in and from which the film clearly takes a page or two, "Money Monster"is a fine thriller that doesn't run too low on adrenaline or surprise and even manages to squeeze in some genuine commentary and emotion.
What the film has to be commended for is for not presenting an easy way out of things. It presents an enormous amount of ideas and moralities and doesn't cheapen things to black and white. The fact is that this variety and complexity of points of views isn't brought to the screen in the most organic way. If you compare every story beat to a brick in a wall I'd say the wall stands up overall because of a major presence of strong bricks in it, but it is repeatedly undermined by the lesser, but notable percentage of weaker beats.
Many times when you think the film has finally won you over, in comes something, an out of place action or a character, that really takes you out of the groove. Yet, also the exact opposite is true: for every time I thought the movie just did something that it wouldn't be able to recover from, in came a new twist that sparked my interest again. What it ultimately comes down to is the fact that the screenplay always keeps giving some new challenge to the characters or the audience, it is relentlessly paced and so despite the fact that some don't work, the majority do and it is always fresh enough for the viewer to put aside what is not working and focus on the interesting parts.
Talking about the parts that don't work, I noticed the film does a little too much spoon feeding to the audience. Sometimes situations aren't given a chance to breathe and make the editing do the storytelling and we are fed exposition by characters or the characters themselves overcome an obstacle or further the story by coincidence and you aren't really sold on why some of the stuff that's happening is happening. That's the inherent problem of the film, which it never overcomes, you are never 100% free of doubt or hesitation on character motivation or plot developments and that deeply undermines the overall structure of the thriller. All the problematic parts arise because of a lack of subtlety in them.
That is frustrating when you consider the fact that there is a lot subtlety in the film which works and which ultimately makes this a good ride. When it is not preaching to you the film really has it, characters, performances, Jack O'Connel is really great in this, cinematography, script, these elements are all in good place. As I said before, the majority of the moral issues that are presented to you work because they are all in the subtext of what is going on, those parts make for a thrilling watch, it's when it got too on the nose that it really bothered me.
I loved the setup, the cast, the conversation it brought up, the tight pace, I just wish it could have trusted the audience a little more and focused on less fancy material at times to bring a more complete film together. -
The George Clooney & Julia Roberts hostage yarn "Money Monster" turns up the heat on Wall Street, but its uneven shifts between comedy and drama make it difficult to take seriously. Mind you, any movie that skewers the financial services industry is welcome because these opaque institutions need more transparency than they have offered for their enigmatic machinations. One day, perhaps, we may know what the money brokers are actually doing with our hard earned dollars. Meantime, Wall Street has always struck me as a crap shoot. Either you run huge risks to reap huge rewards or your audacity pays off in dirt rather than pay dirt. "Home for the Holidays" director Jodie Foster and scenarists Jamie Lindon of "Dear John," Alan DiFiore of TV's "Grimm," and Jim Kouf of "National Treasure" make this problem a glaring point in "Money Monster." Unfortunately, most of us already know this because we've watched either Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" (1987) or his belated sequel "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (201o). As for the claustrophobic hostage crisis that unfolds for three-fourths of "Money Monster" in the studio of a financial news network before the plot propels the characters out into actual New York City streets, you've seen it covered in more compelling movies like Sidney Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975) or Spike Lee's "Inside Man" (2006). Superficial, uneven, but above-average, two-time Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster's fourth film as a director suffers primarily because the male characters are anemic. For a change, the guys qualify as airheads, while the gals are pretty astute. George Clooney, Jack O'Connell, Giancarlo Esposito, and Dominic West amount to nothing less than nitwits. None of the guys have an inkling about anything, but the women know what to do. At fade-out, the dames rise above the dudes. Neither the Wall Street skullduggery nor the logistics of outsmarting an unstable, naive gunman furnish any surprises. Indeed, the hostage drama is more compelling than the lackluster Wall Street mystery that triggers the gunman into action. If you missed the Oscar-nominated movie "The Big Short," it details real-life Wall Street chicanery, but it is a far more complicated film to follow. Nevertheless, despite its toothless nature, "Money Monster" emerges as a suspenseful saga, until certain revelations undercut the tension in the third act.
Lee Gates (George Clooney of "Gravity") is a cynical Financial News Network commentator, reminiscent of CNBC's "Mad Money" pundit Jim Cramer, and he cavorts about his studio like a carnival barker. Meanwhile, Lee's veteran producer & director, Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts of "Erin Brockovich"), orchestrates the colorful graphics that enliven his on-camera antics as he dispenses stock tips for investors. Basically, Lee relies on his savvy insights to make educated guesses about monetary matters. Sadly, Lee's expertise about all things Wall Street backfires on him. Before he realizes what has happened, Lee finds himself eye-to-eye with a pugnacious goon poking a pistol in his face. This intruder, who slipped stealthily past distracted security guards and invaded the FNN studio while the show was 'live' on-the-air, demands to know why Lee gave him such appalling information. Just about everybody in this 98 minute, R-rated thriller gets caught off guard at one point or another. A discontented, blue-collar, delivery man from Queens, Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell of "Unbroken"), knows zilch about the financial industry except what Lee Gates predicts. He prompts Lee at gunpoint to don a vest packed with enough explosives to flatten a city block. Kyle brandishes the detonator in his other fist and warns everything about the consequences if he loses his grip. The only individual in the studio with a clue about what to do is Patty. She produces and directs Lee's stock tips show. She gives Lee his cues and instructs the crew where they must be whether they are operating cameras or loading graphics. Patty galvanizes not only Lee, but also her crew into action to contend with Kyle as the N.Y.P.D. swarms into the studio with their sniper response unit. Eventually, Patty convinces Lee that he should play along with Kyle. Lee sheds his anxiety and struggles to mollify Kyle. Poor Kyle, it seems, squandered his late mother's entire nest egg—some $60-thousand—and invested it in Ibis Clear Capital stock. Lee had hyped Ibis with such enthusiasm that Kyle sank every penny into it. According to Ibis, a computer glitch occurred, and the company lost $800 million, cleaning Kyle out. Kyle throws a temper tantrum and threatens to shoot anybody and then possibly blow Lee to smithereens while Lee and Patty scramble to unravel the secret behind Ibis' meltdown. Unfortunately, nothing that Lee does satisfies Kyle. At the same time, the rest of the world has tuned into Lee's show and is savoring the 'live' showdown.
If Kyle weren't enough of a nuisance for Lee and Patty, the N.Y.P.D. poses another problem that generates white-knuckled suspense. When the police aren't quietly evacuating the FNN staff, they are sneaking into position to end the confrontation with their snipers. As it turns out, beleaguered Captain Powell (Giancarlo Esposito of "The Scorch Trials") is stunned when his men want to shoot at the bomb vest that Lee is wearing rather than at Kyle! The snipers assure Powell that they have an 80 percent chance of success at blasting the detonator off the bomb. Eventually, word reaches Lee, and he wields Kyle as a shield. Powell rejects their strategy as outrageous. Meantime, the globe-trotting, duplicitous, Ibis CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West of "300") makes the foolish mistake of flying into New York to present his side of the story. During this chaos, the N.Y.D.P. coaxes Kyle's wife Molly (Emily Meade of "Trepass") on-camera in the hope that she will persuade Kyle to put down his pistol. Instead, an irate Molly berates Kyle without mercy for being asinine. Altogether, while "Money Monster" provides nothing new about Wall Street's treachery, but Foster compensates with taut suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat. . -
goolizap25 May 2016It's a common theme in films that Wall Street is largely corrupt. We've seen it played out countless times. Especially lately. And many of these films mesh together to become indistinguishable from each other. Money Monster may feel different. But is it maybe due to the ridiculously large ad campaign or because it says things that the others don't?
The former is most likely true, but it doesn't mean this film should be tossed aside. There's a lot to like about it.
George Clooney plays Lee Gates, the host of a stock market show where he advises people on what to stocks to buy and sell. In one situation, he advises everyone to buy shares of a specific company, saying it's a surefire bet. So many viewers do, but when the company's stock plummets, costing investors $800 million, everyone wants answers.
Most specifically, a young man named Kyle (Jack O'Connell), who sneaks onto the show's set and threatens everyone. Flailing a gun around and strapping a bomb around Gates' chest, he goes into a rant about losing his entire $60,000 life savings on the company because of Gates' advice.
Kyle and the script have a lot to say, but never quite hit the nail on the head in a grand way. It's well thought out, but doesn't play as so, instead giving us popcorn thrills and adrenaline rushes. Which, by no means, is a bad thing.
Bordering on transparent and cheesy a few times, its wittiness jumps back out of it quickly--and fortunately.
At a little over 90 minutes, the film is paced well. It keeps us awake on the edge of our seats pretty much the whole time, which is interesting considering almost the whole thing takes place on a television set with just a couple of people.
This may have to do with the fact that the point of view is all over the place--an odd decision for a thriller. We see what the filmmakers conveniently need us to see--not always what makes sense for us to.
Though not as big or impactful as it wants to be, it stands as a microcosm of the financial stresses most of the country is constantly going through. It's an important movie, but there are others that are slightly more important. Although, it doesn't hurt to watch this one and be thoroughly entertained in the process.
Twizard Rating: 86 -
Michael_Elliott20 September 2016Money Monster (2016)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Lee Gates (George Clooney) is a hot shot financial TV personality who offers up advice on what stocks to buy and which ones to sell. His director (Julia Roberts) is on her last show when they've scored an interview with a big CEO but when he backs out they don't realize how worst the day is going to get. Soon Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) bursts into their studio and on live television he takes over the show carrying a gun and a bomb.
MONEY MONSTER comes from director Jodie Foster and I must admit that I went into it with incredibly high expectations. Whether people like it or not Clooney had done many great movies and delivered many great performances over the past decade so I thought with him and Foster together we'd get a hard-hitting drama that would take down the ugly side of Wall Street. Well, the movie was entertaining while you watched it but afterwards I couldn't help but feel extremely disappointed because when you get down to it the film was pretty shallow.
There's a great film hidden somewhere in here but it seems that they had to simple everything down so that your average viewer wouldn't get lost. I can only imagine what this could have been if someone like the late Sidney Lumet had been able to make it and the screenplay was allowed to be much more hard hitting and really go after the bad guys. This film starts off on a highly unlikely plot device (getting into the studio so easily) and by the final act it completely falls apart with its rather stupid plot twists.
With that said, the movie is still slightly entertaining to a point. Foster does a good job in her directing duties but there's no question that a new screenplay was needed. Both Clooney and Roberts work extremely well together and both give fine performances. Clooney does a good job at playing the charm but as the drama builds he also manages to sell that. O'Connell is also very good in his role of the man who finds himself in a desperate place so he reaches for a rather dumb idea.
MONEY MONSTER has its heart in the right place but it just seems like one of those movies that doesn't want to be too serious or too finger pointing and instead of any hard hitting drama and questions we're just left with a rather mindless action film with an unlikely plot. It's really too bad because with the talent involved this should have been so much better. -
If someone were to enter your home and steal from you, naturally, you'd be angry. You'd want to see that person caught and to pay for the crime and, if possible, to get your money back. When someone commits financial crimes, it's a little harder to accomplish all that, but the first step after the crime (or unethical behavior) comes to light is to assign blame. It also happens to be cathartic. As cathartic as movies can be, they've been a useful tool over the years for venting our collective rage over such misuse of our money and/or showing us how these things happen. Some of the better and/or more notable examples include "Trading Places" (1983), "Wall Street" (1987), "Barbarians at the Gate" (1993), "Boiler Room" (2000), "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" (2005), "Capitalism: A Love Story" (2009), "Margin Call" (2011), "Arbitrage" (2012), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) and, in 2015 alone, "99 Homes" and the Best Picture Oscar nominee "The Big Short". 2016 brings us "Money Monster" (R, 1:38), starring Oscar winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts and directed by 2-time winner Jodie Foster.
Clooney is Lee Gates, the cocky and flamboyant host of a financially-themed NYC-based TV show called "Money Monster". It's high finance meets entertainment (similar to CNBC's "Mad Money", hosted by Jim Cramer) and it features Lee and his oversized personality both advising and amusing investors. Lee's long-time producer, Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), keeps things stock-ticking along but is suddenly forced to become a hostage negotiator, crisis manager and investigative journalist when a man with a gun and a bomb takes over the studio (during a live broadcast!) and takes Lee hostage. Viewers first think that this is just another one of Lee's on-air stunts, but it's all too real (even though it's just a movie, of course).
The desperate, well-armed man is Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell, from Angelina Jolie's 2014 WWII epic "Unbroken"), an ordinary working man who lost his nest egg of $60,000 after investing in a stock that Lee recommended on the air, with his usual showmanship and a little hyperbole. The day after the company loses $800,000,000, Kyle holds his gun to Lee's head and demands answers. The company's public relations COO, Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe) does a live interview with Lee, but simply spouts corporate rhetoric about a mysterious computer glitch, while CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West) is MIA.
As Lee wears an explosive vest which Kyle threatens to detonate, Lee and Patty use their professional talents to satisfy Kyle's demands that he be able to air his grievances publicly and try to diffuse the situation by getting him some real answers. Outside the studio, Patty has help from staffers Ron and Bree (Christopher Denham and Condola Rashad) and the police, under Captain Powell (Giancarlo Esposito from TV's "Breaking Bad" and "Revolution"), strategize. While Ron is (literally) running around town, Bree keeps an eye on the police. The NYPD bring in Kyle's girlfriend (Emily Meade) to try to talk her boyfriend down, which doesn't exactly go well, and then they hatch a risky plan, to which Lee would certainly object, if he knew about it. Diane does her level best to get Lee and Kyle the answers they seek, but is stymied by CFO Avery Goodloe (Dennis Boutsikaris) and with their mutual boss traveling and being incommunicado. The characters (and Movie Fans) eventually get some answers, but only after scenes in South Korea, Iceland and South Africa and back in the Big Apple after Camby's plane finally lands.
"Money Monster" is a taut and entertaining thriller. Within the film's economical running time, Foster keeps things moving and injects several lighter moments, while also managing excellent character development, which her perfectly-cast and very talented actors sell with aplomb. The script, which was developed by three different writers over the course of more than three years, features dialog that feels true, but packs an unrealistic amount of investigative success into a very narrow time frame. All this results in an indictment of some financial practices which doesn't simply trash capitalism, and a message movie which never forgets that is must entertain in order to deliver its timely message effectively. "B+" -
steve-667-1019029 June 2016MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT!!!! Part of the appeal of this sort of a movie is to see the REAL bad guy get his comeuppance. The real bad guy was of course - Gates. Even more so than Camby and certainly not Kyle (he's just a whiny "Never been told I'm wrong" Y-Gen loser) Gates is a ring master at a freak show. The decadence of Wall Street and reality TV show meets game show of the Money Monster is atrocious. I needed the climax to be that Camby was exposed but it all got watered down and the consolation prize to our emotions was to see Kyle gunned down. It cheated me - not Kyle.
The movie was OK but Clooney - I dunno. He's not an action star, not a comedian, what the hell is he? For me the most overrated actor in a generation. Speaking of overrated - Ms Roberts takes the cake. So the choice was more about box office appeal than substance.
I'm sure the NYPD would have plenty to say about the way police procedures were portrayed. While I'm watching it I'm thinking 'it's just a movie. It was so 'staged'. Zero character development. Zero empathy for anyone other than maybe Kyle (a bit) and what the hell was that scene with the girlfriend?? Was it comedy relief? They would have cut her off with the first sentence. That, by the way, would have been more artistic and funnier.
I'd have liked the relationship between Clooney and Roberts to have mirrored Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Whozis from "The Abyss" but that would have taken time this film didn't seem to have.
Love you Jodie - maybe better next time. This was average at best and tragically, could have been better. -
cultfilmfan28 May 2016All the years I spent watching Jim Cramer and his bombastic yet highly entertaining financial advice show, Mad Money (which I think George Clooney's character, Lee Gates and his financial show in the film entitled, Money Monster is clearly a satirical stab at), I always wondered while I watched Cramer give advice on certain stocks, or even recommending some as a must buy, or a do not sell, or do not buy, I always wondered whether anyone was really out anything by listening to Cramer and his advice. Did anyone ever listen to one of his stock tips that ended up being devastatingly wrong and perhaps lost a lot of money, or maybe even more collateral than that listening to his advice on a risky stock tip? Yes, at the end of each Mad Money program, or really any financial program, there is always a disclaimer at the end of these shows telling the viewers to consult a professional financial accountant, or broker before making any rash decisions regarding your funds and investments and in a sense the shows in question tried to take no responsibility if someone ever was to lose a lot because of these programs and their hosts on the air. What if a situation like what happens in Money Monster, were to really happen? A blue collar worker invests every cent they have based on a stock that was highly recommended on said program only to have it go belly up and end up losing everything in the process. I think we can all understandably say we would be furious and looking for someone to blame after everything was gone. But who is to blame? Is it the host of the television program who is trying to entice you with a lot of bells and whistles and fancy jargon over buying a stock? Or perhaps the station and the people who put the program on the air? Are they to blame? Or does it go even deeper than that and in fact involves shady business dealings with the actual companies themselves, who may have more stake and more involved in a company's win, or loss than you might expect? Are they the ones who should handle the blame and take on the responsibility of those who are out nearly everything buying, or selling one of their stocks? These questions and more is what the new film, Money Monster tries to answer in what is a very captivating, thrilling and entertaining 98 minutes of a movie. George Clooney plays the obnoxious Lee Gates, who is the host of Money Monster and Clooney as in typical fashion, is really good at playing suave, somewhat sophisticated and arrogant characters such as Gates and here he is totally believable in the performance and does a great job. That is one of the film's really strong points which is the acting, whether it be from pros such as Clooney, or Julia Roberts to newcomer Jack O'Connell, all deliver exceptional performances and really keep the film going. This type of a film needs three main things to keep it's momentum and audience interested and that is truly capable actors who can handle the material they are given, but also who fascinate us as viewers and want us to keep watching them and see where and what happens to their characters. Also we need a script that has a plausible yet fascinating beginning, middle and final act with just the right amount of things to thrill the audience, keep us guessing and wanting to see what happens at the end and also a certain message to drive home to the viewers to leave some food for thought after you have left the theatre and to truly keep the film fresh in your mind. The direction also has to know how to keep the scenes in question lively and fast paced, but also allowing us in it's brief running time to have a certain connectedness to it's protagonists and make us believe in what is happening and also exciting and giving us reason to be angry at what is going on not only in the film, but in real life as well. The film passes all these check points and exceeds abundantly in each of these areas. Money Monster is one of the most entertaining thrill rides of the year, but it is not an empty movie. It is filled with good thoughts and questions that need to be asked and will rally any individual who has ever been questioned, or burned, or just plain angry about the things mentioned earlier in the review. The film has great and sharp dialogue and not just one dimensional characters, but very interesting characters who are great pawns in this giant chess game of a film. The film has a strong message and will leave you thinking about it's message, but will keep you riveted while doing so. One of the best times at the films so far this year and I look forward to seeing more of Foster as a director and hope Clooney and cast continue to shine in other films because they are all on the top of their game here.
-
I gotta admit that I have had a "man crush" on George Clooney for quite some time - probably dating back to his days on ER. I loved his screen "coming out party" OUT OF SIGHT (an under-rated gem, check it out). I thought he was terrific in THE PERFECT STORM, said he should have won the Oscar for MICHAEL CLAYTON and was glad to float around space with him and Sandra Bullock in GRAVITY. However, I have been disappointed in him lately from 2014's MONUMENTS MEN to 2015's TOMORROWLAND to the worst movie of 2016 HAIL, CAESAR, I began to wonder if he was "losing it".
I'm happy to report that MONEY MONSTER shows that he still has it. Starring as Cable Money Show host Lee Gates, Clooney is the perfect embodiment of the "empty suit with a smile" on TV spouting clichés and loud attention grabbing snippets while really saying, essentially, nothing. It is the perfect role for him. The story centers around a disgruntled worker (UNBROKEN'S Jack O'Connell) who took Gates at his word and invested his entire life savings in one of his investment suggestions. When that investment tanks, Gates gets taken hostage live on the air. Aided by his intrepid producer (Julia Roberts), Gates needs to "get real" to get out of this situation.
Sounds like a good premise, right? And it is and as performed by Clooney, Gates and Roberts (more on her later), this had the makings of an interesting hostage drama with a cautionary tale of our voyeuristic tendencies of watching tragedy unfold on live TV. Unfortunately, MONEY MONSTER isn't that interested in that story. It tacks on a conspiracy plot by the tanking company led by a smiling, well-coiffed CEO that has "nothing to hide" that just screams "I HAVE EVERYTHING TO HIDE". As played by Dominic West, all this CEO was missing was tying the girl to the train tracks and twirling his mustache.
Professionally directed by Jodie Foster, I was excited for this movie and the scenes in the studios between Clooney and Roberts (reunited for the first time since OCEAN'S 11 and 12). The scenes between these two had a spark in them that I haven't seen from Clooney in a long time - I credit Roberts (and Foster) for enabling Clooney to bring his A (or maybe his A-) game. As far as Roberts is concerned, I think she is having a career renaissance (check out her work in last year's THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES). It was fun to watch these two veterans chew the scenery with each other. These two are surrounded by some fun characters in the TV studio, especially "that guy" character actor Lenny Venito as the lead cameraman and Christopher Dehnham as a beleaguered producer who is given all the "crap" jobs to do. The interplay between them all are fun and it sets up an interesting world that I want to spend time in. And when the gunman crashes the party, I was interested.
Unfortunately, where this movie doesn't succeed is when it decides to move away from the studio and it's interesting characters and focus on a generic Corporation with generic characters that is hiding a generic conspiracy. And that's too bad, for Director Foster and Writer Jamie Linden waste some really good talent - most notably the Police Captain played by Giancarlo Esposito and a corporate flunky played by the always slimy Dennis Boutsikaris who all but disappears from this film after the 1/3 portion. They had the makings of a really good, really interesting film, but, instead turned it into a decent and watchable entertainment that shows us what true "MOVIE STARS" George Clooney and Julia Roberts still are.
6 1/2 (out of 10) stars, but I'll tack on 1/2 more stars for the re-emergence of Clooney and Roberts, so "officially" a 7 (out of 10) starred movie and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis) -
dryanmorr21 September 2016The premise of this movie could have been a lot better thought out and a lot more logical or realistic. For a George Clooney film, this should have been a lot better. Anyone with any common sense as far as the police handling a live hostage situation. As soon as the NYPD allowed the girlfriend to go on TV only to call him stupid, dumb, etc. I watched the movie in the background.
And the horrible humor parts of this movie, c'mon, it was so out in left field it just made this movie more of a joke, until you hear that the NYPD is planning to shoot the hostage in order to unarm a bomb vest and eh...don't waste your time. -
CANpatbuck366415 May 2016I've seen a couple of pretty informative films lately when it comes to the financial industry (Inside Job and The Big Short). Both movies found a way to boil things down so you could understand even if you weren't well versed in Wall Street terminology. I went in to Money Monster knowing it was mean to be entertaining. With the cast it has (George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell and Giancarlo Esposito), a strong trailer and the social justice concept, I was interested to see where it would go. I think managing expectations is key Money Monster, if you go in expecting an insightful look into finance or an Oscar calibre drama, you'll be disappointed. It's a thriller and if you accept it, I think you'll have a good time.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* Lee Gates (George Clooney) hosts the show Money Monster. Lee is arrogant and mouthy, he has a lot of bravado and isn't afraid to step on other people's toes. The recent financial story is the downfall of IBIS who lost $800 million dollars overnight. CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West) explained it was due to a technical glitch. Gates is a staunch Camby supporter and claims the stock will bounce back. Before the show the next day, Gates is preparing for the show. Most of his interactions are with his director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) who seems like more of a friend than his boss. She puts up with his juvenile behaviour and they get ready to do the show. Gates begins with some posturing but gradually gets into rhythm and is leading up to his interview with Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe) who is the chief communication officer for IBIS. After a while, Patty sees a delivery boy slowly moving closer and closer to Gates (he will eventually be named as Kyle Budwell played by Jack O'Connell). He pulls out a pistol and fires it in the air. He instructs him to put on a bomb vest and to answer his questions about the IBIS crash.
I would again like to point out that Money Monster isn't meant to sit you down and teach a lesson. It's a fictional drama and for a hostage thriller, it does it's job well. The movie offers some twists and turns that I didn't see coming, even playing on a couple of stereotypes that commonly take place in these type of movies (calling in the next of kin for the hostage taker/terrorist was really different). But on the other hand, while Money Monster accomplishes what it sets out to, it's disappointing because it has the opportunity to dive into some darker aspects of Wall Street and it completely moves away from it. Two of the shadier practices in Wall Street are mentioned but play significant roles (dark pools and high frequency trading) but instead of looking into how these areas are barely monitored, they create a greedy and evil CEO to point the finger at. It isn't wrong that they did that but it felt like they chose the easy path to entertain instead of diving into real problems in high finance.
The cast of Money Monster is large but the movie largely focuses on 3 people. Luckily, they got the right people to play those parts. I was most impressed with Julia Roberts. Her character is the the most sympathetic, she's saddled with the man-child who she has to look after yet produce a quality show. Julia helps humanize not only her character but the other two leads, she's playing a more down-to-earth character and she's does it really well. I've only seen Jack O'Connell in Unbroken but I can see why he's on the rise. He did a really good job playing Kyle in a way where he's not the good guy but you understand where he's coming from and he's not necessarily the villain you think he would be watching the trailer. George Clooney is the star of the show and I thought he got better as the movie went on. In the start of the movie, he's rapping and dancing all over the place and it didn't seem to gel. But as things get more serious, the more the movie moves into his wheelhouse and he becomes more believable. I liked Giancarlo Stanton as the police commissioner and even though I didn't like the direction they took his character, Dominic West was good as Walt Camby.
I would just take this movie at face value. Kyle's plan doesn't really hold up and Money Monster is not wearing it's message on it's sleeve. Also Money Monster is being dismissed by some as liberal propaganda and I don't think that's accurate. One of the other things I liked about Money Monster is that it's unclear who the villain is until the end. Kyle is the gunman and he deserves to be punished for his actions but he's questioning the system that seems to ignore the rules and suppresses anything that they don't want us to see. Lee is an ignorant prick but does he deserve to die for that? Of course not. This is a world of mixed morals and minus Patty all the characters do not line up as black or white but as a shade of grey. It's refreshing to see that and it's a little closer to what we really see in the world.
I liked this movie when I left the theatre. The more and more I thought about it, I started to pick out things. It's far from a bad movie, it has a good cast, complicated characters and enough twists and turns to hold your interest. But it's not great either, it bypasses some really interesting aspects for an easier resolution and it didn't live up to it's trailer. It's one of those movies where you have to split the difference and although I might have been disappointed, it deserves credit for accomplishing what it set out to do.