Money Monster

Sometimes it's just nice to see the old-pros on the A-list do their thing. The big Hollywood movie isn't what it used to be, but Money Monster stars George Clooney (Two Oscars, eight nominations) and Julia Roberts (One Oscar, four nominations), and is directed by none other than Jodie Foster (Two Oscars, four nominations). I don't mind saying that I just love Foster. I also think a lot of George and Julia, so maybe this is a biased review. The A-list stars are backed up by a nice supporting cast, Jack O'Connell (Unbroken), Dominic West (The Affair), Giancarlo Esposito (Homicide: Life on the Street), and Caitriona Balfe (Outlander).

Money Monster is the name of a financial investment cable TV show that is more circus than investment advice. Clooney is the manic host and Roberts is his cool-headed producer.  They have a lot of history together, and Roberts is about to jump ship for a job at another network. During the taping of their daily show, a young man with a gun (O'Connell) comes on camera, takes Clooney hostage, and forces him to wear an explosive vest. He is upset after losing all of his savings after following Clooney's advice to buy a certain stock. Of course, the SWAT team, led by Esposito, soon arrives, and Money Monster seems to be heading toward a typical hostage standoff. But the company that O'Connell invested in and lost his money has wheels within wheels, and so Clooney tries to figure out what is really happening by trying to pigeonhole the company's spokesperson (Balfe) and CEO (West). All the while, Clooney is trying to keep O'Connell alive. Stockholm Syndrome takes hold pretty quickly.

I need to mention two small roles in Money Monster. In one, Lenny Venito, one of those character actors who looks always vaguely familiar, has a breakout role here as Lenny the Cameraman. In the other, Emily Meade has only one scene as O'Connell's pregnant girlfriend who is brought in to talk him down. Meade almost steals the whole movie with one scene. It is great.

Money Monster is directed by Jodie Foster. All of her Oscar nominations have been for acting, but she has been concentrating on directing recently. Money Monster is her fourth feature film and she has been directing episodes of House of Cards, and Orange is the New Black. Foster does a good job here, keeping the action simple and moving along. This film makes good use of the intimacy between the on-air talent and the producer in the control room talking through their earpiece. This technique has been used to good effect before in Broadcast News (a great movie if you've never seen it)  and more recently in the HBO series, The Newsroom (a great series if you've never seen it).  Anyway, it's fun to see Clooney and Roberts is action. Hollywood is not dead yet.