Review: MONEY MONSTER Can't Buy Happiness, But It Is a 98 Minute Good Time

Imagine an AU where CNBC's Jim Cramer, as played by George Clooney, is confronted by one of those people he (in)famously encouraged to buy stock in Bear Stearns right before it collapsed back in '08. Said person has lost everything and is understandably upset and unfortunately armed. And let's say in this world Bear Stearns, which we'll call Ibis Clear Capital, is run by someone like money-laundering, ponzi scheme-orchestrating Allen Stanford, formerly of the Stanford Financial Group and currently of a United States federal prison.

Got it? If so, then you've got MONEY MONSTER, the new film from director Jodie Foster.

Clooney plays Lee Gates, the (probably self-professed) "Wizard of Wall Street," host of fictitious financial infotainment show MONEY MONSTER which - based on the sound effects, costumes, and lightning rounds - is an obvious take on shows like Cramer's MAD MONEY. Gates is vain and self-absorbed, and he only cares that the day's guest, Ibis CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West), has canceled because he sees it as a personal affront. Camby was scheduled to be on to discuss a "glitch" that has caused Ibis to inexplicably lose 800 million dollars. Lee's producer, Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), troubleshooting and putting out fires from the control room, finds a new guest, Ibis CCO Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe). But before Diane and Lee can discuss her pre-printed talking points, a man later identified as Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) enters the soundstage with a gun for himself and an explosive belt for Lee. Kyle took Lee's advice to buy Ibis and lost everything. Now he's demanding answers and Lee, Patty, and Diane are left scrambling to find some before it's too late.

It was hard not to think about the great Jim Cramer takedown of 2009 watching this movie. The question at the heart of those DAILY SHOW segments was a question of culpability. Was MAD MONEY and its ilk about information or entertainment? What happens when thoughtful analysis and actual journalism take a backseat in favor of entertainment value? And is anyone responsible? It's clear where the film comes down on at least one of those questions; early on, Roberts' Patty explains, "We don't do gotcha journalism. Hell, we don't do journalism period."

The screenplay, written by Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore and Jim Kouf (based on a story by DiFiore and Kouf), is taut, tense and dramatic and unexpectedly funny. Though ultimately a very conventional story, they occasionally resist predictability, zigging instead of zagging to great effect; two scenes in particular, Lee's desperate attempt to turn the tide on Ibis stock and the appearance of Kyle's pregnant girlfriend, stand out.

As the director, Foster does an impressive job of visually balancing the narrative threads, a necessity for a film about a hijacked live tv show. From soundstage to camera to monitor to control room and back, Foster wonderfully layers the action. Foster keeps the film moving, the pacing brisk and relentless. It doesn't slow down when we leave the studio either, whether we pop over to the police mobile unit outside, the Ibis building, or South Korea.

It is, however, the relationship between Lee and Patty, and therefore between Clooney and Roberts, that really grounds the film. They're both great actors, a fact sometimes easy to forget with people so famous, and they are electric together.

MONEY MONSTER, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, is rated R for language throughout, some sexuality and brief violence.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

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