Money Monster – Film Review
Director: Jodie Foster
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O’ Connell
Release Date: May 27th
The last film that Jodie Foster directed was The Beaver in 2011.
…Take a minute to let that sink in.
Whatever your thoughts on that film may be, you can’t say it wasn’t timely. Man has a mental breakdown…….Man starts acting oddly in public……said man is played by Mel Brooks…..
And you really have to hand it to Foster; by focusing on her friend Mel’s fragile, human side in that movie, she made a solid attempt to portray him as a victim during a very difficult period in his life.
Shame it was such flop then.
So with her latest film focusing on the relationship between media and the stock market, you’d expect something cutting edge and provocative. At the very least, you’d think there would be a parallel between it and a recent scandal.
But instead we are treated to a well-written and well-cast thriller that nonetheless doesn’t have an awful lot to say that we haven’t heard before.
The focus is on Lee Gates, a successful TV celebrity who offers stock market advice on his incredibly cheesy show, Money Monster. During his usual routine of rapping and pressing novelty-sized buzzers, the studio is infiltrated by a lone gun-man. With a grudge the size of Lee’s ego, he takes the entire studio hostage with some explosives in order to broadcast a message to the world…
The big draw here is the leading cast. With free-wheeling Clooney smarming his way through the script, drinking vodka on set with a cheeky grin, you know you’re in for a good time. As TV host Lee Gates, he channels Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark, fully embracing the mantra that rules are for other people and the spotlight is for him and his shiny white teeth.
That premise alone would make the film worth a watch, but he is complimented surprisingly well by the whip-smart n’ surly Julia Roberts as Patty, his long suffering producer. Like Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs, hers is the role of professional baby-sitter and she confidently owns it with sarcastic efficiency.
This relationship is the heart of the film, as opposed to its lacklustre commentary on high finance. It might cast some loud opinions about the stock market but, as with the majority of the population, it doesn’t really know what it’s talking about. Whereas last year’s The Big Short attempted to explain the complexities of a financial crisis, Money Monster actively works to simplify it. We’re just here for the ride and ‘finance’ is as good a reason as any to throw two charismatic personalities together for 98 minutes.
Clooney and Roberts work well together, most likely a result of their work on the Ocean films. The chemistry between them both is not only natural and captivating, but it also highlights the relationship between celebrity personalities and TV crew members.
As odd as it is to say, this is where the real meat of the film is at. It isn’t the focus by any means, but the workings of a TV studio and film crew are presented in a way that really engages with the audience and makes you curious as to how a TV show is run.
This is displayed as a rather delicate seesaw act, where one cannot properly function without the other. We see how Patty is constantly running around beneath Lee with a safety net, ensuring that his tangents are always tightly reined in and that her crew works with his spontaneity rather than against it. It’s clear that Lee, like many TV personalities, is what the audience want to see, but it takes the efforts of his crew to make him shine. We all know this to be true, but to actually see it in action makes us truly appreciate it.
Conversely, when the gunman arrives (underwritten but embodied explosively well by the ever-brilliant Jack O’ Connell), Patty realises that it is Lee’s same spontaneity that could save all of their lives. Speaking in his ear throughout, she acts as a guide rather than instructor, as a conscience rather than director. He can no longer read from the cue cards but needs to rely on his own charisma to keep the man with the gun calm. These scenes in particular lend the film a very personal feel.
They also allow for a surprising amount of levity and humour, more than you would expect in a film that deals with explosives and the stock market. Everything moves at a rapid pace to ensure you are never bored with the proceedings. How the plot ultimately unfolds is a little unfulfilling, but the journey is not without its charms.
It’s a shame that such a neat concept falls into cliché towards the end. Neither the film’s climactic showdown, nor its ‘happy ending’ feel earned and you get the sense that the conclusion would feel more at home in an 80’s action movie than a contemporary thriller.
And while the segue is seamless, and while we all love 80s action movies, there’s no denying that it is at odds with its original, more ambitious premise.
The result is an odd but enjoyable film that succeeds on emotion rather than intelligence. There’s missed potential, definitely, but Money Monster’s inherent likability attempts to shield that from all but the most cynical of viewers.
Score: 4/5
Written by Stephen Hill
