There’s no question that Jodie Foster’s Money Monster is a manipulative exercise, one meant to incite viewers’ ire where the current disparity between the haves and have-nots is concerned. It’s a grandstanding affair that proudly displays its liberal views, one that makes no bones about the fact that it sets out speak up for the common man, albeit in a very simplistic way.
Despite that, Monster proves to be effective entertainment that will fail to make any difference where shrinking the financial gap in this country is concerned but will allow audiences to vent and live vicariously through its everyman character – an effective distraction – as well as soothe the conscience of the millionaires who made it. As directed by Foster, it’s a fast-paced, well-constructed siege thriller that’s hamstrung by its script, which relies on narrative convenience a bit too often.
George Clooney is Lee Gates, cut from the same cloth as Jim Cramer of Mad Money fame. It’s hard to get a handle on how smart this guy is as he’s too busy putting on a show, dazzling the viewers of his financial advice program with one grandstanding stunt after another. More of a charlatan than a retirement planner, his show comes tumbling down around his ears when a disgruntled viewer, Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), takes him hostage while he’s on the air, demanding answers as to why a stock tip Gates gave his viewers turned out to be a turkey – to the tune of an $800 million loss. The show’s producer, Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), does her level best to keep the situation from spinning out of control as she and her staff try to track down some answers.
Foster certainly can’t be faulted for taking a leisurely pace, as the gears of the plot quickly mesh and hum along as it lays out a conspiracy surrounding the company in question that involves a shady CEO (Dominic West), a suspicious computer glitch and a reluctant fall-person (Caitriona Balfe). All the while, the tension in the television studio ebbs and flows as Gates’ true character comes to the fore as he begins to see that Budwell’s complaint may be the tip of an iceberg of corruption.
The film is never dull and at times it flirts with greatness, particularly during two scenes that brilliantly upend cinematic conventions. An obvious attempt to use a Frank Capra device, in which Gates appeals to the inherent goodness in all of us to rescue him, blows up in his face while a scene in which Budwell’s fiancée (Emily Meade) is brought in to talk some sense into him goes gloriously awry. During these moments, the film seems ready to shake off any notions of predictability and take us down a refreshing new path. However, the screenplay by Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore and Jim Kouf is married to its ridiculous climax, intent on delivering a crowd-pleasing ending that’s insultingly simple in the face of the complex issues the film grapples with.
That being said, there’s no question that the three principals give their all to sell this particular brand of soap and their efforts help us to overlook the script’s faults. O’Connell, who impressed in Unbroken, gives an impassioned performance that accurately gives voice to the frustration so many of us are feeling. Clooney is quite good as well, enthusiastically playing the clown only to poignantly show us the damaged man beneath. However, Roberts anchors the film, never more accessible than she is here as a smart, grounded woman trying to orchestrate a three-ring circus that threatens to tragically spin out of control.
Money Monster will ultimately be referred to as a noble effort to capture the zeitgeist of the day; a flawed film that might have been salvaged had it the courage to shake off its predictable narrative conventions and followed its passion instead.
Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected].
