Lee Gates is a TV personality whose insider tips have made him the money guru of Wall Street. When Kyle loses all of his family's money on a bad tip, he holds Lee and his entire show hostage on air...
Money Monster banks its thrills on a basic yet competently approachable hostage situation. Thrillers revolving around the New York Stock Exchange aren’t unknown. Money devised as a property of greed is a simple yet relatable plot device and Foster, for the most part, exploits the green dollar well in this overlooked feature. Part satire on informational TV shows with all their flashy onscreen effects and manic mayhem, part commentary on America’s fraudulent financial system. It’s a thriller built upon sturdy foundations that aren’t quite fully utilised, forcing the story to be somewhat investable but with the chance of bankruptcy. Egotistical Lee Gates, the presenter of “Money Monster”, is held hostage by a civilian after stock market IBIS Capital collapses due to $800,000,000 mysteriously becoming misplaced.
Who is the real antagonist? The criminal driven by desperation, holding an entire production crew hostage with a jacket enveloped in explosives? The presenter strongly advising the public to invest in a stock corporation that seemed too good to be true? Or the entire Stock Exchange, as wealthy stock brokers commit fraud to finance their own greed in spite of the delicate lives that purchase their stock? The answer is both none of the above and all of the above. Foster toys with antagonistic motives for each character, whilst explicitly defining one primary villain throughout the runtime. She competently explores each perspective whilst questioning the legitimacy of certain business practices which consequently affect innocent and naive citizens. Intertwining these sentiments with an enjoyably entertaining thriller resulted in a feature that really deserved the money and time invested in watching it.
The notably commanding performances of both Clooney and O’Connell made for some impactful conversations on morality and desperation, merging snippets of character backstory with the current explosive scenario. Roberts and West, whilst made their presence known, were unfortunately under-utilised with Foster unable to balance the multiple themes with the expansive cast. The film works best when it’s intently focused on O’Connell and Clooney’s tantalising chemistry in the confinement of the studio.
The third act meanders from this, literally taking to the streets of downtown New York, rushing and convoluting certain plot elements. The Mambo miner’s strike seemingly undercooked and developing minimal impact to the narrative. What didn’t assist in this department was the lack of common sense for some of the characters, in particular Diane. The audience worked out the “computer glitch” issue almost instantly, yet the apparent intelligent Diane took well over an hour to figure it out herself. Highly unlikely to say the least. The script also lacked that sharp bite to make the thrills “edge of your seat” worthy, often resorting to humour to relinquish tension. Although, the use of viral Vines during its conclusion had me unexpectedly chuckle.
Foster confidently orchestrates a thematically expansive hostage situation with a plethora of differing tones. However, it’s with these clashes that the thrills are often diminished, turning this feature into a dollar store as opposed to a luxurious department complex. Still, ridiculously overlooked. A flick so highly enjoyable with Clooney contagiously having a suspicious amount of fun, considering the situation that ensues...
