Money Monster

Dir: Jodie Foster

2016

***

A few minutes into 2016's Money Monster I had wondered whether I was watching Network for the post-financial crisis generation, but I'm afraid Jodie Foster is no Sidney Lumet. That said, there is nothing wrong with the film's direction, after all, Foster didn't write it and it is the script I have issue with. Screenwriters Alan Di Fiore and Jim Kouf wrote the story (Jamie Linden joined them for the screenplay) and while I think Di Fiore has a bright future, I think the thriller suffered from Kouf's input. It is a great idea; George Clooney plays TV host and financial expert Lee Gates whose show is over the top and full of gimmicks but hugely popular. After backing the wrong horse, Gates is suddenly held hostage live on TV by a disgruntled shareholder (Jack O'Connell) who has suddenly lost everything. Suddenly Network turns into Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon. Gates stays on the air and realizes the only way to save his own life is to find out exactly why the shares he told people to invest in failed. This raises some very interesting issues that are relevant to today's social and economic climate. Jack O'Connell's would be hostage-taker represents today's knee-jerk reactionary. He blames the messenger rather than the source but is unwilling to take responsibility for his own risk-taking. A deeper look into why the shares failed reveals predictable underhand goings-on, all legal, such is the world of banking etc. Bankers are bad and the little man gets screwed, dog bites man. However, it is the darker, more satirical element of the story that really works here. A live hostage situation one minute is old news the next. Money Monster shows just how bleak the reality is in the most subtle and simplest of ways. However, as good as all the performances are and as clever and exciting as it is, what really makes the film good is dumbed down by a misguided level of humour. I liked it, I really did but I felt that a huge opportunity was wasted right at the last minute. I sat and watched the film in a full cinema and the audience laughed during all the serious bits and felt silent during the funny bits. Maybe this is the reflection the film is highlighting but I think if you change the tone from one extreme to another you will lose some viewers and your punchy conclusion will fall short of the target area. Money Monster could and should have been the next Network, it fails at explaining the real problem with banking (The Big Short covered that earlier in 2016) and it actually works better as a comment on the problems with the modern day media, but the real irony is that it is average, entertaining definitely but sadly, if it is considered memorable, it'll be for all the wrong reasons. A solid three star film but it could have been so much more.