Money Monster: Get Rich or Die Trying

Money Monster casts a gratifyingly game George Clooney as Lee Gates, a flashy financial guru in the mold of Jim Cramer. In his bombastic live weekday series, Gates picks hot stocks and offers cynical Wall Street bon mots, accompanied by cornball sound effects and embarrassing hip-hop dance numbers. No one much cares for him, including exasperated producer Petty Fenn (Julia Roberts), who is about to head out the door to a rival network. However, disgruntled deliveryman Kyle (Jack O’Connell) has a particular axe to grind against Gates: He, like countless investors, poured money into alleged sure thing Ibis Financial, which Gates endorsed before it subsequently cratered and lost $800 million in value. Unlike those other ruined shareholders, Kyle decides to demand some answers by storming the show’s set with a gun and a pair of plastic explosive-rigged vests on the day when Ibis CEO Walt Camby (Dominic O’Connell) is scheduled to appear as a guest.

Director Jodie Foster stages the unfolding hostage scenario at the odd tonal intersection of slick action-thriller, backstage melodrama, and pitch-black screwball comedy. In the main, it works unexpectedly well, due partly to the steadfast performances from the cast and partly to a remarkably nasty screenplay. Although the film’s ending is a foregone conclusion, the writers add in some unexpected swerves—a couple of which gleefully upend the unwritten rules of Hollywood drama. Although Money Monster’s plot concerns one incidence of shady high-frequency trading at a single company, the film leverages the smug lawlessness that persists in the financial world post-2008, as well as the despairing powerlessness felt by the vast majority of wage earners. While it is ultimately more run-of-the-mill entertainment than acerbic milestone, Money Monster has a bit more real-world bite than many Great Recession features like Too Big to Fail and The Big Short.

Money Monster opens Friday, May 13 in wide release.