Lee Gates hosts a successful TV show about investment tips. Posing as a deliveryman, Kyle Budwell invades the show, hangs a bomb vest round Gates' neck, and threatens to blow him up live on air unless he gets an explanation as to why an investment tipped by Gates left him penniless. As time slips away, the police try to figure out how to shoot Budwell without activating the deadman switch he holds.
Money Monster - the name of Gates' TV show - is a simple, straightforward thriller. The linear story has no great plot twists, there are no huge surprises other than a general uncertainty as to exactly how it will end and, in many ways, this is a completely routine example of this type of movie.
But it has three great performances at its centre. Up and coming English 25-year old Jack O'Connell as Kyle, gives a portrait of a man who is juggling a number of different problems, any one of which could push him over the edge and possibly already has. He is seriously scary and hugely sympathetic at the same time, a monster hiding a mouse.
Julia Roberts, a serious contender for My Least Favourite Actress, is very good indeed as studio producer Patty. Just about to quit and take another job, she remains in place and uses incredible resourcefulness to keep both Lee and Kyle alive while simultaneously trying to track down the true story of what happened to Kyle's investment.
And George Clooney as Lee shows us a man who is vain, thoughtless, shallow and cowardly, yet who hasn't entirely lost touch with decent values as he endures a situation which turns out to be something of an epiphany for him.
What happened to Kyle's investment isn't vastly surprising, although the details of it and the piecemeal discovery are quite good fun towards the end of the movie. If I had a criticism, it is that there are wider issues (the morality of high finance generally) which are not addressed, but that doesn't matter too much: the film is mostly screamingly suspenseful. I'm not offering any spoilers about the ending, though - you'll just have to go and see it.
Jodie Foster's direction, the performances, and a decent script elevate this straightforward thriller to well above average.
Money Monster - the name of Gates' TV show - is a simple, straightforward thriller. The linear story has no great plot twists, there are no huge surprises other than a general uncertainty as to exactly how it will end and, in many ways, this is a completely routine example of this type of movie.
But it has three great performances at its centre. Up and coming English 25-year old Jack O'Connell as Kyle, gives a portrait of a man who is juggling a number of different problems, any one of which could push him over the edge and possibly already has. He is seriously scary and hugely sympathetic at the same time, a monster hiding a mouse.
Julia Roberts, a serious contender for My Least Favourite Actress, is very good indeed as studio producer Patty. Just about to quit and take another job, she remains in place and uses incredible resourcefulness to keep both Lee and Kyle alive while simultaneously trying to track down the true story of what happened to Kyle's investment.
And George Clooney as Lee shows us a man who is vain, thoughtless, shallow and cowardly, yet who hasn't entirely lost touch with decent values as he endures a situation which turns out to be something of an epiphany for him.
What happened to Kyle's investment isn't vastly surprising, although the details of it and the piecemeal discovery are quite good fun towards the end of the movie. If I had a criticism, it is that there are wider issues (the morality of high finance generally) which are not addressed, but that doesn't matter too much: the film is mostly screamingly suspenseful. I'm not offering any spoilers about the ending, though - you'll just have to go and see it.
Jodie Foster's direction, the performances, and a decent script elevate this straightforward thriller to well above average.