Conspiracies dealing with corporate financial malfeasance are a mainstay of film going (The Big Short, Margin Call immediately spring to mind). But instead of hitting the 72nd floor of some Wall Street investment bank, director Jodie Foster takes us into a TV studio where live footage of the little man taking a hostage is beamed across the country.
Jack O’Connell is pissed – he’s lost his $60k life savings. And he blames, in part, financial TV host George Clooney. A cat and mouse game ensues but it all becomes a little too familiar and predictable. And out to maximise the impact, television producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) stays with the unfolding events all the way.
There’s nothing new – and there’s no real sting, but Money Monster still keeps you hooked in its amiable, efficient telling of its tale.
Rating: 61%
Director: Jodie Foster (The Beaver, Little Man Tate)
Writer: Jamie Linden (Dear John, We Are Marshall), Alan DiFiore (TV’s Da Vinci’s Inquest, The Bridge), Jim Kouf (Rush Hour, National Treasure)
Main cast: George Clooney (Syriana, Michael Clayton), Jack O’Connell (’71, Unbroken), Julia Roberts (The Normal Heart, August: Osage County)
An Opinion or Two 