- Money Monster (movie 2016) review: A television celebrity and an unwise investor/hostage-taker form the core of director Jodie Foster’s socially conscious thriller, which is kneecapped by the mix of intellectual pretentiousness and cowardice found in its screenplay.
Money Monster (movie 2016) review: Socially minded Jodie Foster thriller suffers from both qualitative & intellectual disconnect
Sometimes there’s a difference between what a movie thinks it is and what it actually is. Usually it’s a qualitative disconnect, as in “this movie thinks it’s exciting, but it’s actually boring” or “this movie assumes Kevin Hart is funny when, in fact, he’s not.” In the case of Money Monster, the divide is also an intellectual versus anti-intellectual one.
The fourth film directed by Jodie Foster fancies itself a ripped-from-the-headlines wail from the bottom of the economic ladder: A thriller-cum-exposé into how Wall Street and big media suckered average Americans into following the Pied Pipers of TV’s financial punditry class over the cliff and into economic ruin.
However, the movie we’re really getting is the inevitable result of a script co-written by the guy who gave us National Treasure and Rush Hour: A serviceable, if increasingly far-fetched, B-movie hostage drama whose primary attribute is the competency of top-name talent who mistakenly think they’re contributing to the national dialogue by creating a liberating, shared experience for the little people.
This is near-heartbreaking when you consider that a true talent such as Jodie Foster has only directed three films previously. Yet it cannot be denied that the empathy and warmth that added such glow to Little Man Tate (1991) and Home for the Holidays (1995) has, following her noble failure The Beaver (2011), nearly abandoned her.
In telling the story of an aggrieved everyman breaking into a live TV broadcast and threatening to kill the host, Foster is channeling whatever she learned acting in the thrillers Flightplan and Inside Man, instead of acting for the likes of Martin Scorsese and Neil Jordan.
George Clooney-Julia Roberts love story
Not to discount those looking to Money Monster to help process their rage, but maybe the film is best appreciated as a love story between a TV host and his producer.
We haven’t seen George Clooney and Julia Roberts on-screen together since Ocean’s Twelve (2004), and even in the context of a supposed white-knuckle drama where they hardly share the screen, their sophistication and fizzy banter make one dream of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn starring in a David Fincher thriller.
Roberts is completely credible as Patty Fenn, the calm and quick-thinking producer of FNN’s shtick-filled Money Monster financial advice program hosted by the charmingly smug Lee Gates (George Clooney, flashing star wattage, even if he’s too innately principled to fully convince as a prick).
Patty keeps the show and its many elements flowing seamlessly while currying our favor with self-incriminating, anti-media sentiments like “we don’t do journalism, period” – a line that, no coincidence, earns Roberts her first close-up.
‘Everyman’ with a gun & bomb-embroidered vest
Lee trusts Patty completely: He barely glances at the documents she wants him to sign, and during the live broadcast, she’s in constant communication with him via earpiece, correcting Lee’s mistakes before he makes them. And it’s one big mistake that gets the story rolling: A forgotten piece of bad, on-air advice that asks us to revisit emotions we’ve already processed and would rather relive as comedy – something The Big Short accomplished to Oscar-winning effect.
Lee’s fateful stock recommendation has resulted in financial disaster for Kyle (Jack O’Connell, when we’d really prefer the late John Cazale), whose lowly station is communicated almost entirely through his slathered New Yawk accent, which falls hard and thick as he, carrying a gun, breaks into the studio during a live broadcast of Money Monster.
Kyle has also got a bomb-embroidered vest for Lee to wear while he gives reluctant audience to Kyle’s grievances. Lee’s only lifeline is Patty, trapped in the control room with the rest of the studio crew, calming him down via whispered IFB communiqués containing coded messages or strongly advised suggestions as to his next move.
Although we’re almost 10 years removed from the beginning of the financial crisis, Money Monster can’t muster any more compelling argument for Kyle’s cause than that the system is “rigged. The whole goddamn thing!” and that rich TV guys like Lee turn financial advice-giving into a nightly circus where trustworthy counsel is incidental.
Lee and Kyle’s back-and-forth jockeying for intellectual and negotiating position works as far as it goes, helped along by a pulsating but thankfully not overbearing Dominic Lewis score. And yet the film isn’t content to be a self-contained battle of wills between a wealthy, fast-talking smart guy and the defeated everyman whose heart is filled with resentment and gutter wisdom.
Money Monster keeps getting bigger and more preposterous, until Seoul, Reykjavik, and Johannesburg have been looped in to suggest the issue’s international scope, as corporations conspire to dupe poor, unsavvy investors, gullible enough to place their financial fortunes in the hands of a TV host dressed in gold lamé pants and surrounded by Fly Girls.
Preposterous & cowardly script
Jodie Foster and her three screenwriters haven’t even the guts to fully indict the real villains. (Although in one sparkling and surprising moment, Kyle’s financial choices come into question.) It’s the 1% of the 1% who are the bad guys here, a cop-out involving a fictitious company and its smarmy CEO. This allows everyone to feel victimized, even Lee.
But what larger truth has been uncovered when corporate muckety-mucks argue over algorithms, like they’re in some straight-to-DVD thriller from 2002? What catharsis has been reached as incriminating video plays and punches fly in the film’s ridiculous conclusion?
If Money Monster truly teaches us anything, it’s that people should be more careful with their money. A good start is not buying tickets for films that think they’re indicting a corrupt system, but are actually painfully out of touch with real hardship.
Money Monster (movie 2016) cast & crew
Director: Jodie Foster.
Screenplay: Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore, and Jim Kouf.
From a screen story by DiFiore & Kouf.Cast: Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Caitriona Balfe, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Denham.
Cameo: Robert Reich.Cinematography: Matthew Libatique .
Film Editing: Matt Chesse.
Music: Dominic Lewis.
Production Design: Kevin Thompson.
Producers: Lara Alameddine, George Clooney, Daniel Dubiecki, and Grant Heslov.
Production Companies: LStar Capital | Smokehouse Pictures | The Allegiance Theater | IM Global.
Distributor: TriStar Pictures | Sony Pictures Releasing.
Running Time: 98 min.
Country: United States.
“Money Monster (Movie 2016)” notes
Money Monster movie credits via the British Film Institute (BFI) website.
Jack O’Connell, George Clooney, and Jodie Foster Money Monster movie images: Sony Pictures.
“Money Monster (Movie 2016): Contrivances Ruin Jodie Foster Thriller” last updated in April 2023.