It only makes sense and was, quite frankly, inevitable that
a film like Money Monster would come
out in 2016, and I’m actually somewhat surprised that it didn’t come
sooner. The American public has never
been more disillusioned about corruption within the financial sector, so a film
that plays to that sense of disempowerment through wish-fulfilling catharsis is
a no-brainer for reasonably sizable public appeal on a modest budget that could
turn an easy profit for whatever studio wanted to back such a project. The result is a veritable mixed bag; some
elements work, others don’t, but it’s easy to see why some will gravitate
towards this movie.
Set almost entirely on the set of a fictional stock advice
show, Lee Gates (George Clooney, who can play a charismatic douchebag in his
sleep) hosts said show when one day, a viewer, Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell, an
impressively versatile talent) hijacks the live broadcast with a gun and a bomb
vest strapped to Lee’s chest. Kyle is a
working class guy upset that Lee gave him bad investment advice on the show, as
an immensely profitable company mysteriously lost a lot of money, causing their
stock value to plummet. When it becomes
clear to Lee that there’s something happening behind the scenes, he works with
his producer (Julia Roberts, decent) to uncover what exactly happened that
screwed over so many investors, all while live on the air and with an erratic
gunman to keep mollified.
Here’s the biggest problem: there is never any mystery about
what happened to the money. The
particulars don’t really matter; the CEO of the company is so heavily
telegraphed as being guilty of some misbehavior that his protestations of his
company’s transparency have an unintentionally comical double meaning. For a film that clearly wants to frame itself
as a conspiracy thriller, the conspiracy is laughably thin. This may be why director Jodie Foster made
such a concerted effort to keep the film from getting too serious, as she has
an impeccable knack for deflating any mounting tension with the most improperly
timed attempts at comic relief. It’s an
odd choice to simultaneously try to keep us invested in a hostage situation
while throwing out quips and banter, and it never quite finds the right balance
to make any of it tonally coherent.
However, when the film does opt to take itself and its
central theme of corporate corruption seriously, it can deliver. Clooney and Roberts give pretty damn good
performances, even managing to have less-than-awkward character arcs that only
feel natural because the two have such good chemistry that they don’t even have
to spend most of the film in the same room.
O’Connell, though, is the breakout star here, effectively conveying a
surrogate for the film’s target demographic; working class folks who are frustrated, desperate,
and just in need of some god damn answers.
He is the main reason that in select moments, the film’s tension becomes
very real, which ultimately drives home the point that real people’s lives
are ruined in similar (though admittedly less cartoonishly simple) financial
schemes all the time.
So, in the end, Money
Monster is a bit of a wash. Taken as
a whole, the film is a bit of a mess, but certain moments work really well and
effectively communicate the film’s thesis.
I don’t expect this movie to be a huge financial success, being released
just one week after the juggernaut of Captain
America, but I expect that it is going to resonate with those who do go to
see it, despite some glaring faults. I
can’t say I think that it’s worth the price of a theater ticket, but I’m pretty
sure that there will be quite a few who disagree with me, based on the
cathartic feeling the film was designed to evoke.
No comments:
Post a Comment