Reviews

Money Monster is financial crime thriller directed by Jodie Foster. It centers around Lee Gates (George Clooney) a financial reporter and Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), his executive producer as they are in the midst of a hostage situation being run by Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) as he attempts to get answers as to why 800 million dollars was lost by a financial company that Gates recommended everyone buy stock in.

Being that the majority of the film takes place in a secluded area with our three main characters, Jodie Foster does a great job making sure that the film never feels claustrophobic. Part of this is due to the performances of George Clooney and Jack O'Connell. The two of them spend the majority of the screen time together and they have great chemistry. It almost reminded me of the strange yet surprisingly believable chemistry between Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad. Throughout the hour and forty minute run length, the two of these characters have extremely development that is represented extremely well by the two of their performances. They each portray a believable character as we see under each of their fake personalities and truly digest the fact that they are just regular people.

Throughout the entire film, my heart was pounding. The tension was extremely well written and directed as we are constantly worried that Budwell's thumb could slip at the slightest of moments. The movie doesn't just use one type of tension--it moves some scenes slow and other scenes are much more fast paced. But I can tell you this; throughout the whole film, I was on the edge of my seat, constantly waiting to see what would happen next. A lot of this is due to the well done pacing. The mix between humor, drama and tension made the film feel more realistic. When the movie went from drama to action based, it felt natural as opposed to being forced onto the audience for the sake of just having an action scene.

Now let's get into why this film isn't phenomenal. First of all, the sheer predictability of the film. From about 10 minutes in, I knew exactly how the movie was going to end. This did take away from the film for me, as there were times that I almost wasn't nervous for the characters as the big "twist" at the end could be seen coming from a mile away.

Julia Roberts was just okay in this movie. She didn't necessarily take away from the film, but she certainly didn't add to the quality of it with her performance. She felt somewhat bland at points and only had a couple of moments where she really came out to shine

The beginning 10 minutes was extremely rushed. An extra few minutes onto the film wouldn't have killed them. Instead, it probably would have helped them. Kyle is on the set within at least 5 minutes of the film and it would have been nice to have a little more introduction to Gates and to see a little more about the crash that happened with the market.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. It held my attention and had believable pacing, but the predictability did take away a far bit for me.

7/10

When 'The Revenant' was announced, I figured it was just another movie that Leo signed on for to get his Oscar. Then the first trailer dropped and my opinion turned on a dime. This film was very well done. I see where people are coming from when they think the movie is hollow. However, people need to think a bit deeper in this film. There are multiple deeper messages than just being a revenge story throughout the piece.

First things first, Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography is some of the greatest of all time. People will lean forward in their seats from multiple long and up close shots that blow your mind and make you wonder just how each shot was done.

Many people are talking about DiCaprio's performance and ignoring another large part of the film. While Leonardo DiCaprio's performance is mainly physical as he only has about 20 or so lines of dialogue (most of which not even in English), Tom Hardy's performance is mainly dialogue driven as he provides context for pivotal points within the film. Hardy and DiCaprio's performance go hand in hand to create a very interesting dynamic between the two characters.

The directing by Alejandro G. Innaritu is also extremely well done. The shots and acting wouldn't have been possible without his brains behind the computer.

Overall, the film overstays it's welcome a bit. The two and a half hour run time begins to become prevalent to the two hour mark. It would have been possible to shave off some scenes like the horse sleeping scene. I have a specific opinion that the last shot of a film is extremely important. I believe this film wastes it's last shot and leaves a strange taste in your mouth as opposed to the mystery it wants to leave you with. In the end, the film is well done and well delivered with the help of a likely Oscar winning performance from Leonardo DiCaprio and a strong supporting cast of Tom Hardy, Domnhall Gleason, and Will Poulter.

Let's face it, this is should not have been a Best Picture nominee. But is the movie complete garbage? Absolutely not. Bradley Cooper has an incredible performance as Chris Kyle as well as Sienna Miller. Clint Eastwood's direction also makes you feel like you're dead smack in the middle of this war. The problem with the film lies in the scriptwriting. It's flimsy and didn't really know what it was doing. The directing was unable to match with the screen writing. Eastwood's realistic directing and the unrealistic dialogue clash into this weird mesh of a film. However, it is definitely worth seeing for the sake of Cooper, Miller, and Eastwood.