(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Money Monster had a thrilling premise that flowed well, but the conclusion was a little underwhelming, and at times, dumb!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Once again another movie involving corrupt politics in the banking world. I hoped that this movie is thrilling, and avoids using to much business jargon that really made me didn’t like the Oscar nominated movie, The Big Short. I thought with the cast itself and the premise really makes this ok at the very least. What really intrigued me is that it is directed by Jodie Foster. I wanted to see how she does behind the camera. She always said she was to be known as a director, and now it is her shot. Did this film live up to these expectations? Yes and no, and I will explain.

What I Like: Let’s start with the directing go Jodie Foster. I thought she really did a great job putting this film together. I liked how she balanced out the real life part with the parts on a TV screen. The editing was superb, and it really made this movie engaging. I thought it flowed pretty well, and really kept it on the basis of what this movie is all about. The premise of this movie is really good about a regular guy named Kyle Budwell, played by Jack O’Connell, hijacks a Wall Street stock and banking show called Money Monster which is hosted by Lee Gates, played by George Clooney. Kyle wanted to know what happened to his money when he invested it in IBIS Global Capital, when the stock went way down where he lost everything. He holds Gates responsible because in his show he guaranteed it is a great investment. He hijacks the show with a bomb where the detonator goes off if he lets go of the button. This started a lot of questioning and digging from everyone, the TV show’s director and producers, IBIS public relations directors, and the police. The hostage situation really motivated everyone to find the truth, which originally IBIS claimed to be a glitch in the money system. I did enjoy seeing Gates interact with director Patty Fenn, played by Julia Roberts, through an audio earpiece. In a stage sort of way, they had great chemistry together even though there weren’t together on screen for most of the time. You see them respect each other, and also show some disgust with each other that blended evenly throughout the film. Seeing George Clooney as a tv show host was hilarious. Seeing him being all cocky and pompous, but when things go down wrong, he uses his intellect to try to get out of it. When he uses his charm he ultimately fails, but when he uses his brain, he succeeds for the better. Though out the movie, it had some funny dialogue here and there that had me laughing, and was appropriate for the film. There were very thrilling scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat, especially when the sniper was close in shooting Gates to disarm the bomb on him. Everything that was put together flowed well and gave the audience a great understanding of what is going on.

The So So: The last act of this movie is what bothered me. The part after they left the studio, and were walking to IBIS to find their CEO, Walt Camby played by Dominic West, who originally was supposed to be on the show, but mysteriously was missing and came late. Seeing Kyle and Gates walk around the streets of New York with the SWAT team following them hoping for a clear shot to disarm the bomb which Kyle is covering. I thought that scene was filmed nicely, but it really was there just to waste time until the conclusion. It took that scene at least 15 minutes to make it happen, and I thought it was too long. It also killed the suspense a little bit, after seeing what really is going to happen. Once it reached to the conclusion in which Camby admits into using the investors money to create a fraud situation to try and make a big gain that failed miserably, it created a very underwhelming conclusion. This is where you find out the bomb was fake, but Gates exposes Camby on live TV, and Kyle is shot dead by the police. In the end, Camby gets what he deserves, but I really didn’t like how Kyle died and the media labeled him as a terrorist. I thought he did a service to expose corrupt bankers, and in a weird sort of way deserved better recognition.

What I Didn’t Like: Some aspects of this movie were dumb. When they were outside walking in the streets, and some things made them separate from each other for a good amounts of time, why didn’t the police take the shot to supposedly disarm the bomb. The fact that the bomb was a fake really just made the situation more stupider even though Kyle got what he wanted. Gates gets exposed for not thoroughly doing his research for the show where he does get hated on, but how he pretty much made things right in the end was just a little too cliched for my liking.

Overall: Jodie Foster as a director did a fine job. I thought she made everything work to the best of her ability, even the underwhelming third act. Some great acting, and some thrilling moments really does make this movie worthwhile when you have nothing else to watch. At least watch this movie for one thing, and that is to see George Clooney dance with two black girls. Now that is pure comedy!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars