Money Monster ***½ (2016, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell) – Movie Review

Money Monster is an undeniably tense, powerful and intelligent media/finance drama, with crisp, clear, dynamic direction by Jodie Foster and three strong, involving performances.

George Clooney enjoys himself in a well-fitting, perfectly tailored big star role as showy TV personality Lee Gates, host of a popular financial network show, who promotes on air a high-tech stock that mysteriously crashes. Jack O’Connell does well too as an angry, deranged  investor who has lost all his money and takes Gates, his crew and his producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) hostage live on air at gunpoint, strapping a bomb-containing vest on Gates.

The story feels a tiny bit artificial, a script-writer’s contrivance that is hard to believe in fully. If it was a company’s stock, you’d be very wary of buying it. There’s time to be thinking, ‘could this really happen?’ It is also rather predictable and deju vu in that we’ve been here before in films like John Q (2002) and Mad City (1997). And there’s just a slight lack of suspense, surprise and a big finish ending.

But, unusually, Foster’s taut thriller unfolds in real time, giving it very considerable urgency. And the actors really do involve you in their characters and the situation, making the most of the good dialogue and developments in the screenplay by Alan DiFiore, Jim Kouf and Jamie Linden.

Keeping it commendably brisk and businesslike, Roberts is notably good in what’s really the least showy of the three roles. There are other decent parts for Dominic West as the probably dodgy boss of the high-tech company, Caitriona Balfe as the PR chief Diane Lester, Giancarlo Esposito as the New York City police Captain Powell, Christopher Denham as the TV producer Ron Sprecher, and Lenny Venito as Lenny the cameraman. They are a likeable, interesting bunch of characters and actors.

The screenplay was featured in the 2014 Blacklist of the most liked unmade scripts of the year.

It was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios, 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Movie Review

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