I am in my wrong side of the 20’s and whenever I meet people and talk about finances, I am surprised to realize that so many of us are ignorant about basic stuffs. What is scarier is that people indulge in stock market based on rumours or various messages or so called “stock tips” that they receive,without really verifying it for themselves. Jodie Foster’s Money Monster highlights this fact of how many gullible people invest based on the advice of someone who is probably not really an expert.
Money Monster is the kind of Hollywood film, which we are missing thanks to the onslaught of superheros, a mid budget film with stars.
Money Monster is not here to educate what went wrong or how the stock market works. It assumes the viewer knows this and has basic knowledge of how the market functions. Interestingly, it chooses to give a face to the victim. It is interested in telling the aftermath of the crash.
The victim here is an average American who earns USD 14 per hour, who wants a piece of the world which has been served by the media as what could lead to a good life, and the only way he can achieve this, he thinks is via the stock market.
The plus point of the film is that it does not spoon feed the audience. The movie does not paint anyone in black or white, instead it focuses on telling the story from different viewpoints. Even though the movie is set in New York, we get to see the implications across Africa, Asia and European countries.
George Clooney as Lee Gates the financial analyst who doles out investment advice on TV to his viewers, use his famous good looks and acting chops to play a character who starts off as a confident man, who then later on has to use his temperament and analytical skills to survive.
The one major reason why I wanted to watch this film was Julia Roberts. Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) is the producer of the show and even though both of them (Roberts and Clooney) have hardly any scenes together, her character guides George’s character during the duration of the film. I cannot think of any other actress who could have played this role.
Jodie Foster as a director gets her casting right, which wins half the battle. It is interesting to see how she uses all those cliches and gives it a twist, the goodness of people, the pregnant couple and in role reversal how Jim uses Kyle (Jack o Donell) to protect himself from cops.
This is what makes it an interesting film, those little twists around cliches which makes it an enjoyable watch. Don’t go in expecting to be given an insight into the stock market, insider trading etc, instead go in if you want to watch an engaging film backed by two of the more popular yet dependable actors around these days.
mad about moviez.in 