Movie Review - "Money Monster"

It had been awhile since we went to the movies - the comic book movies and formulaic romcoms of late have not appealed to us - so we were glad to get to the theater and see the new move, the trailers for which have been playing for months, it seems, "Money Monster", directed by Jodie Foster and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Clooney played Lee Gates, an over-the-top host of a money management / investment advice TV show on a financial news cable network.  Roberts is the director of the show who tries to keep the out of control egotistic Clooney in line.  One morning, while the live broadcast of the show is taking place, a delivery man, played by Jack O'Connell, walks on to the set with a gun and a bomb and takes Clooney, and by extension, everyone else, including the TV viewers, hostage.  Seems the guy lost his entire life savings by following Gates'/Clooney's advice and now HE WANTS SOME ANSWERS!!!!!

I will say no more so as to avoid spoilers, but what follows is a taut and suspenseful thriller that was enjoyable and very entertaining.  Clooney plays his character broadly, maybe too broadly, in the beginning, but, once he is taken hostage, he tones it down, and becomes  more believable and sympathetic.  In other words, he does his usual great job. Roberts is terrific as the director who keeps her head on straight and manages the crisis, and O'Connell is also good as the pathetic loser with the gun and the bomb.

Parts that I really like about this movie, and, again, no spoilers coming here, were two somewhat cliched situations that were put in place to diffuse the tense situation on the set.  However, unlike cliched movies, neither of them work, and the characters are then faced with  "okay-well-now-what-do-we-do?" situations.  Loved it.

"Money Monster" is a well acted and directed suspense drama from Jodie Foster and a great cast.  Good movie.  A solid three and one-half stars from The Grandstander.