It's a big problem when a movie suffers from its writing. The same can be said when a movie suffers from its directing. Now in Money Monster, try to imagine the size of the problem when you know that it suffers from both its writing and directing!
The script didn't bring anything new to the table, and its main conflict's party was weak. So why do I watch in the first place?!
As a hostage situation movie, it has none to be called new. From Dog Day Afternoon (1975) to Mad City (1997), every detail is reused, with zero distinction, that's why it's wholly predictable. Then the main conflict's party, Kyle Budwell the irate investor with the explosives, is - all the way - idiot, wimp, and pale, let alone that he lost his mother's money, not something that he worked hard for years to earn. So not only that this script made him, along with the conflict, powerless since the start, it - also - made it hard to sympathize with him!
Moreover, it has more shortcomings: The police forces took FOREVER to sneak into the studio. The way how the evil businessman's secretary got his cellphone was so easy. They even found a recorded satellite video for him with that South African guy.. well, forced hasn't been more obvious! The matter of throwing the earpiece to Gates, the TV host, while his final march was the top of stupidity, and it could have been altered to anything else more logical (3 people wrote this, and you can see that no effort was done!). Killing Budwell in the end is dumb; the movie prepared itself for the cliché, and didn't want to object to it, even for a change (I read that in the original script the character doesn't end up dead!). I didn't get why Budwell was crying while having sex with his girlfriend. And the erection cream joke was such a filthy unfunny relief.
The profanity is too much and pointless. All of Hollywood movies nowadays believe that profanity is a realistic factor, while it's degenerately commercial, exploitatively torrential, and terribly tedious. Just think of it, there is depravity in society, however Hollywood deals with the whole society as depraved, where everybody curses, swears, and takes God's name in vain, heavily and non-stop. This can't be reality, it's outrageously fake image of it, that doesn't express eloquently, or - God forbid - entertain. And if it's the moviemakers' dogma, for whatever reason, then I got fed up indeed, and can't stand more.
Jodie Foster's directing was monotonous. It didn't utilize the one-place's ranges, or understand it creatively. Many scenes were shot with blandness and belittlement, like the scene in which the TV host compares himself to the bomber. George Clooney is a pretty ordinary actor. Mostly, he doesn't affect me, or make me believe him. And it's clear that Foster as a director didn't help him out to give us super or effective performance.
Generally, there was a wall of thick glass between us on one side, and the characters and the events on the other. I felt no credibility from the get-go. And this is a tragedy of writing and directing.
So what's the gain in the end? Everyone returned as the same as they were. Nobody changed, or became more aware. Even mocking at stability wasn't deeply or powerfully presented, in any way that would create bitterness in us. Ok, this is pure coldness!
Pros? Well, I liked 2 points in the script. The first is that the evil businessman sees himself innocent, considering what he did a permissible deed in the world of money. His behavior was in line with his character nicely. And the second is how the character of Patty Fenn, the TV show's director, and the lead's conscience, was only the lead's friend, without necessarily being his girlfriend or wife, which would have led to traditional stuff. However, still Julia Roberts's performance is the best thing here at all.
Money Monster's screenplay was featured in the 2014 Blacklist, a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year. Sorrowfully when it got made already, not much was spent on polishing and strengthening it. And to make matters worse, it had no redeeming qualities as well. So in the end, it's customary, boring and cold movie. Giving it 6 out of 10 is too merciful from my side I presume!
The script didn't bring anything new to the table, and its main conflict's party was weak. So why do I watch in the first place?!
As a hostage situation movie, it has none to be called new. From Dog Day Afternoon (1975) to Mad City (1997), every detail is reused, with zero distinction, that's why it's wholly predictable. Then the main conflict's party, Kyle Budwell the irate investor with the explosives, is - all the way - idiot, wimp, and pale, let alone that he lost his mother's money, not something that he worked hard for years to earn. So not only that this script made him, along with the conflict, powerless since the start, it - also - made it hard to sympathize with him!
Moreover, it has more shortcomings: The police forces took FOREVER to sneak into the studio. The way how the evil businessman's secretary got his cellphone was so easy. They even found a recorded satellite video for him with that South African guy.. well, forced hasn't been more obvious! The matter of throwing the earpiece to Gates, the TV host, while his final march was the top of stupidity, and it could have been altered to anything else more logical (3 people wrote this, and you can see that no effort was done!). Killing Budwell in the end is dumb; the movie prepared itself for the cliché, and didn't want to object to it, even for a change (I read that in the original script the character doesn't end up dead!). I didn't get why Budwell was crying while having sex with his girlfriend. And the erection cream joke was such a filthy unfunny relief.
The profanity is too much and pointless. All of Hollywood movies nowadays believe that profanity is a realistic factor, while it's degenerately commercial, exploitatively torrential, and terribly tedious. Just think of it, there is depravity in society, however Hollywood deals with the whole society as depraved, where everybody curses, swears, and takes God's name in vain, heavily and non-stop. This can't be reality, it's outrageously fake image of it, that doesn't express eloquently, or - God forbid - entertain. And if it's the moviemakers' dogma, for whatever reason, then I got fed up indeed, and can't stand more.
Jodie Foster's directing was monotonous. It didn't utilize the one-place's ranges, or understand it creatively. Many scenes were shot with blandness and belittlement, like the scene in which the TV host compares himself to the bomber. George Clooney is a pretty ordinary actor. Mostly, he doesn't affect me, or make me believe him. And it's clear that Foster as a director didn't help him out to give us super or effective performance.
Generally, there was a wall of thick glass between us on one side, and the characters and the events on the other. I felt no credibility from the get-go. And this is a tragedy of writing and directing.
So what's the gain in the end? Everyone returned as the same as they were. Nobody changed, or became more aware. Even mocking at stability wasn't deeply or powerfully presented, in any way that would create bitterness in us. Ok, this is pure coldness!
Pros? Well, I liked 2 points in the script. The first is that the evil businessman sees himself innocent, considering what he did a permissible deed in the world of money. His behavior was in line with his character nicely. And the second is how the character of Patty Fenn, the TV show's director, and the lead's conscience, was only the lead's friend, without necessarily being his girlfriend or wife, which would have led to traditional stuff. However, still Julia Roberts's performance is the best thing here at all.
Money Monster's screenplay was featured in the 2014 Blacklist, a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year. Sorrowfully when it got made already, not much was spent on polishing and strengthening it. And to make matters worse, it had no redeeming qualities as well. So in the end, it's customary, boring and cold movie. Giving it 6 out of 10 is too merciful from my side I presume!