Money Monster

Image Source

A Jim Cramer-type character named Lee Gates (George Clooney) hosts a show called Money Monster (hence the movie's title). One day everything seems to go off as usual, and is running pretty smoothly. The show's head producer (Julia Roberts), then notices that something is off. A man named Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) who has disguised himself as a delivery man has snuck onto the set of the show. He then straps a bomb to Gates's chest and takes the studio hostage. He is now several thousand dollars in debt because he took advice from Gates and invested in stock from a company. From there, things unfold into new paths that you may or may not expect them to take. So, the million dollar question is: Do I recommend seeing this movie? Yes. But, wait for video. For the most part, I think Jodie Foster does a good job with the direction. The writing and directing do take some stumbles here and there, unfortunately. The elements of humor can be fairly hit-and-miss. The movie has a fairly slow pace, and walks this fine line between being boring and being entertaining. While the movie does occasionally stumble into the boring category, it is entertaining for the most part, and thankfully never crosses the line into being unwatchable. However, with a few exceptions, it also can't quite reach a level higher than decent. My problem with the writing isn't so much that it's bad. I just feel that it either doesn't dumb things down enough or it expects you to know about some of the topics they mention going into the movie (an issue I feel The Big Short tackled far better). With the more negative stuff out of the way, the cast is solid. George Clooney and Julia Roberts have a pretty good back and forth. But, Jack O'Connell owns the movie, giving what I believe to be an Oscar-worthy performance. He makes for a strong antagonist. This guy is a human being with a relatable motive. He's just a guy who's pissed off because he got screwed over. He's also armed with a gun and a bomb detonator who's a little bit prone to angry outbursts, and you never really know if he's going to yell or react violently However, I personally feel that they do kind of shoehorn a secondary antagonist in towards the end of the movie, and it doesn't quite work as well for me. So, yes this still a decent movie despite some of its noticeable stumbles.

7 / 10