CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the streaming series “Emily in Paris” the adventures of Emily Cooper and her fanciful/fashionable Paris friends and lovers, now in its fourth season. Episodes 1-5 currently on Netflix.
Film Review: Approach of ‘Money Monster’ is Pure Fraud
![Printer-friendly version Printer-friendly version](/sites/all/modules/print/icons/print_icon.gif)
![E-mail page to friend E-mail page to friend](/sites/all/modules/print/icons/mail_icon.gif)
![PDF version PDF version](/sites/all/modules/print/icons/pdf_icon.gif)
CHICAGO – In our society there is one eternal truth…the rich will ALWAYS win, that’s one of the reasons that they are rich. So when “Money Monster” attempts to take them down a peg with a ridiculous fantasy story, it’s as fraudulent as what they think they’re bringing down. An oligarch watches this, and laughs at us.
![]() Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
What was surprising, and distressing, was that George Clooney was involved in this project. He has made reliably stick-it-to-the-man films for years (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “The American”), but in this one he doesn’t have a character, or at least a character that has a placeholder in reality. Everything else is just window dressing – the direction from Jodie Foster, the horrid screenplay by three writers. and a throwaway role for Julia Roberts that someone like Téa Leoni could have done, and that’s the opposite of a compliment. The premise is false, flabby and trying desperately to make a point, while accomplishing nothing. Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Lee Gates (Clooney) is the host of the Financial News Network show “Money Monster,” a loud and brash circus for American investors in the casino…I mean stock market. He’s somewhat of an a-hole (they show him trying to get a dinner companion), and his booth director Patty (Julia Roberts) is quitting after the Friday live show is completed.
Naturally, during that show a stranger named Kyle (Jack O’Connell) invades the studio, dressed as a delivery guy. He brandishes a gun, and forces host Lee to wear a bomb jacket, and he’s holding a detonator with an itchy thumb. He wants to see the CEO (Dominic West) of a stock that Lee recommended, because that stock tanked and took his life savings. He doesn’t want his money back, he wants an apology.
![Star](http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/star.gif)
![George Clooney, Jack O’Connell George Clooney, Jack O’Connell](http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/MonMon1.jpg)
Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the Captive of Kyle (Jack O’Connell) in ‘Money Monster’
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
![Star](http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/star.gif)