Money Monster

Money Monster_360P

money monster

This could have been an insightful move into how the stock market is manipulated by algorithms, the media, corporations, governments and insider trading. Yet the movie simply descended into cheap, tension-free farce. Then you have pushy Julia Roberts to transform a merely mediocre movie into a truly ghastly movie. And her upside-down (loud) mouth is a distraction. Certain characters such as the girlfriend seemed to behave in ugly ways that were convenient to the dire script but unconvincing. Then near the end one of the characters makes a confession that dissipates any tension left from the premise, and cheapens all that went before. The joke is on us. We are even neutral about the villain as he's just a minor character on a scam. The movie mocks him and we're supposed feel schadenfreude but we are indifferent to the plight of a stranger. The movie attempts to manipulate our emotions, but fails completely as we are dealing with shallow, self-absorbed characters. This is yet another soul-destroying, desolate, by the numbers Hollywood movie. As for plot holes, let's start with a major TV studio that has security that any old dodgy looking geezer can circumvent, and that's just the start. There are a hundred oh-so-convenient plot devices. The movie is a rip-off, designed to make monster money for old rope (and I'm not just talking about the leads).

Money Monster tells the story of a TV show host named, Lee Gates(George Clooney). Gates, his producer Patty Fenn(Julia Roberts) & the crew of the TV show, Money Monster, are in for an unpleasant surprise, when an enraged & dangerous investor named Kyle Budwell(Jack O'Connell), enters the TV studio. Kyle barges into the studio, armed with a gun. Now, it is up to Lee Gates & Patty Fenn, to comply with Kyle Budwell's demands or, it is dire consequences for everyone involved with the TV show, Money Monster. Money Monster is a superb film. It is thrilling & dramatically intense, at the same time. Director Jodie Foster has done a masterful job, in maintaining the suspense & building the tension, throughout the film. Foster's directorial skills, are as good as her supreme acting ability. This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat & keeps you guessing as to what's going to happen next, right till its shocking climax. The reason this film is so good, is due to its unforgettable performances. George Clooney is outstanding as Lee Gates. Clooney portrays his character's growing anxiety & fear, flawlessly. Julia Roberts is spectacular as Patty Fenn. This role, is another feather in Roberts' cap. Jack O'Connell's portrayal of Kyle Budwell, is the highlight of the movie. O'Connell showcases a variety of emotions in quick succession, in his portrayal of this conflicted character. Dominic West is great as Walt Camby. Caitriona Balfe is impressive as Diane Lester. Giancarlo Esposito is awesome as Captain Powell. Christopher Denham & Lenny Venito are excellent as Ron Sprecher & Lenny(The Cameraman), respectively. Emily Meade is amazing in her small but significant role, as Molly. The supporting cast, is effective as well. Money Monster is a must watch, for everyone who loves edge of the seat entertainment.

Money Monster is set presumably in real time. Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the host of "Money Monster", a show on which Lee advises his viewers how to buy stock. A week after an alleged computer glitch that cost investors $800,000,000, Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) one of those investors takes over the studio and holds Lee hostage, as he demands to know who is responsible for the "glitch." The production team headed by director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) try to negotiate the situation with Kyle while at the same time trying to discover who is behind the scam. Money Monster keeps the stakes high all throughout. Rarely ever does it let up. Clooney is great as Lee, and O'Connell is amazing as the unpredictable and borderline psychotic Kyle. The acting is beyond excellent and the story never cuts the tension. There were times that I actually remember gasping. If you like thrillers, Money Monster should be a film for you.

Jodie Foster has made a wonderful entertaining and instructive film. She should be encouraged to making more and better films. She has chosen well her cast. There is chemistry between George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It's not the chemistry she had with Hugh Grant in 'Notting Hill', though. Clooney is a shill for companies on the stock exchanges or issuing IPOs. It is not to see his Lee Gates has much in common with that windbag Jim Cramer, who is still talking up buys and sells on NBC. (For elephants with longer memory, yes, the same Jim Cramer who went on TV urging his viewers to buy Bear Stearns within a week or so before it failed.) Gates is a showman, like a Liberace, but without substance. He's a good salesman, not a likable man, but he is at the pinnacle of his success. He knows how to read and give an oomph to the shopworn script a company gives him to hawk its stock. Roberts plays Patty Fenn his producer. She bright, spunky and knows how to keep Gates on message. She's the one's who pulls his strings behind the scenes, feeding him lines though an ear piece. (The idea is not new; it was used in 'Broadcast News'.) And then into this cozy formulaic format comes the talented Jack O'Connell, who plays Kyle Budwell and comes on the TV set upsetting this incestuous love fest of the media and companies listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ: each teasing he hard earned money from purses of the small investor and the hard working who look to make a mean life more comfortable. And then all hell breaks loose. What to many film goers produced glazed eyes in the excellent cinema version of Michael Lewis' 'The Big Short', is more accessible in Forster's 'Money Monster'. Furthermore, like Toto in 'The Wizard of Oz', it exposes the fraud committed and continues to be committed by investment banks and hedge funds. No computer glitches here; the fraud is fueled by old fashioned greed. What makes MM so on target is exposes hucksters like Gates who haven't the slightest clue as to what drives the market, the nitty gritty of the business. What say is a 'punt'? Like a trained seal, until the envelope is pushed to the maximum, might hav had a degree in economic, he didn't understand the market until his life is at stake. And even then, were it not for Fenn, resourceful and forceful, as she whispers the magic words exposing the scam on the public by a powerful corporation through an ear piece, does Gates get an up-to-speed course on algorithms and the geopolitical scheming of the giant multinational corporations. Here, it's fitting to recall Enron. And on the technical side, we see how a TV program is shot, using the camera in the same way Forster did--long shots, zooms, wide lens, so on and on. The cast is a harvest of good actors: Giancarlo Espito, the versatile Dominic West, Caitrionia Balfe, Christopher Denham and Aaron Yoo, to name a few of the fine actors. MM will make money and it should. It is intelligent, entertaining, hardly maudlin, but like TV, it is part of the news cycle and we know at the end the moral of the story is fleetingly learned until the next big scoop.

The movie sounded good upon description and even began in an enticing, if somewhat smart-mouthed, way. But it soon deteriorated. Mr. Clooney's acting was extremely uneven, ranging from cavalier to scared senseless to domineering--all in relatively short order and all unbelievable. Miss Roberts was one dimensional. Mr. O'Connell emoted a bit too much. Yet, the actors' shortcomings seemed primarily the result of Miss Jodie Foster's absent direction. She apparently let these big name stars do what they wanted to do. (They must have been signed for a small fortune.) Even Miss Foster may be partially forgiven as the script was terrible. Character actions and motivations were often just outright implausible. The whole movie gave a sense of a cheap, quickly done production more suited to the TV screen than to the theater.

I went in to the movie expecting to be entertained, and I wasn't disappointed. Dramatic, with a little humor, a perfect combination. I loved the plot twists, and was sad that the inevitable happened. I loved the character Kyle, and I think many of the movie's audience are going to be sympathetic to him, given the state of the economy since 2008 (I know it's getting better, but it's been a slow recovery.) I loved Kyle's girl friend's response to the situation he was in, and it wasn't at all what I expected, but was filled with honesty and emotion. Julia Roberts and George Clooney were both very good. I also liked seeing all the character actors that I've enjoyed on television shows (Breaking Bad, Blue Bloods to name two) as part of the police department officers. I was a little disappointed that the character Camby didn't get more of a punishment for what he did (which of course is just like the banks and mortgage companies getting away with what they did). Showing the people who were watching the live hostage situation from all over the world was a great addition, and of course returning to the Foosball game was exactly what would happen. Very entertaining movie, fun for a weekend afternoon. I think both George Clooney and Jack O'Connell should both at least get Oscar nominations.

This movie is about Wall Street. The ostentatious hedge fund guys wearing 1000$ suits, traveling in their G-5s and at the same time fooling the public and robbing their money by employing "High Frequency Trading". The premise of this story is entirely laughable. There is a "Black Swan" event in the financial markets. People lose a lot of their money and one disgruntled nincompoop, amateur investor goes bonkers and takes financial studio hostage. Stitching together complicated terms such as High Frequency Trading, Dark pools, mathematical anomalies etc. this film gives an entirely inaccurate view of how money is lost in the stock markets, I'm no expert myself but this isn't how that works. The story line is just full of holes, plain banal and just regurgitates popular sentiment about how Wall Street or hedge funds dupe money out of investors. The acting is sadly isn't that great. Would've expected more out of Clooney and Roberts. On top of it the story line doesn't help their case as well. I actually am writing this review with the movie playing in the background. I just want to get it over with, my earphones are on and am simultaneously writing this scathing review. The only thing worth watching in this movie is - Caitriona Balfe. Real pretty and easy on the eyes. Nothing much apart from her. I highly recommend that you don't watch this bullshit and save yourself the trouble.

It's a common theme in films that Wall Street is largely corrupt. We've seen it played out countless times. Especially lately. And many of these films mesh together to become indistinguishable from each other. Money Monster may feel different. But is it maybe due to the ridiculously large ad campaign or because it says things that the others don't? The former is most likely true, but it doesn't mean this film should be tossed aside. There's a lot to like about it. George Clooney plays Lee Gates, the host of a stock market show where he advises people on what to stocks to buy and sell. In one situation, he advises everyone to buy shares of a specific company, saying it's a surefire bet. So many viewers do, but when the company's stock plummets, costing investors $800 million, everyone wants answers. Most specifically, a young man named Kyle (Jack O'Connell), who sneaks onto the show's set and threatens everyone. Flailing a gun around and strapping a bomb around Gates' chest, he goes into a rant about losing his entire $60,000 life savings on the company because of Gates' advice. Kyle and the script have a lot to say, but never quite hit the nail on the head in a grand way. It's well thought out, but doesn't play as so, instead giving us popcorn thrills and adrenaline rushes. Which, by no means, is a bad thing. Bordering on transparent and cheesy a few times, its wittiness jumps back out of it quickly--and fortunately. At a little over 90 minutes, the film is paced well. It keeps us awake on the edge of our seats pretty much the whole time, which is interesting considering almost the whole thing takes place on a television set with just a couple of people. This may have to do with the fact that the point of view is all over the place--an odd decision for a thriller. We see what the filmmakers conveniently need us to see--not always what makes sense for us to. Though not as big or impactful as it wants to be, it stands as a microcosm of the financial stresses most of the country is constantly going through. It's an important movie, but there are others that are slightly more important. Although, it doesn't hurt to watch this one and be thoroughly entertained in the process. Twizard Rating: 86