Wait…Money Monster Didn’t Suck?
Surprise! Money Monster didn’t suck. I know you’re wondering how and I can’t explain it either. But Julia Roberts and George Clooney finally pulled a worthwhile movie out of their asses. And I am shocked. Because I watched The Secret In Their Eyes on Redboxington a couple weeks ago and WHEW! It was garbagio. But this movie? Pretty good, man. Pretty good.
Money Monster is a moving starring, written, and directed by all of these people on the poster above.
Set in New York City, a lower class “I don’t have shit because life is impossible in NYC” citizen named Kyle Budwell finesses his way into the studio of the hit show Money Monster, a show starring Lee Gates and directed by Patty Fenn. After slithering his way onto the set, Patty notices Kyle in the background. Next thing you know, Kyle has a gun in the air, and he’s taking shit over. Why? Because The Money Monster ruined his life. And he wants answers. Only problem? Only one person has them, and he’s completely unreachable. DUM DUM DUMMMM. It’s lit.
Essentially, it’s the story of the little guy vs the big guy; rich vs poor; lower class vs upper class, and what happens when the little guy is pushed too far. Kyle just wanted to do right by his family and what’s he get for it? Empty pockets and complete ruin. What would you do? No..Better question: what would you do if you finally reached the point of Fuck It? Exactly. Somehow someway, Kyle’s the hero we all need; because we’d all want to know where our money is too.
The only problem I had with the film was Clooney. Despite the fact that he had the biggest character arc, Clooney’s Cool Guy Swag prevented me from ever thinking Gates was in real danger. Or at least thought that he was in real danger. Don’t get me wrong, Clooney killed it; but there were just multiple times where I saw too much Clooney in the character. And I know what you’re thinking: what does that even mean? I can’t explain it, man. Just see the movie then we can talk about it.
This is one of those movies you’d watch every time it comes on TV. It’s a shorter movie, which is a plus; and while there’s not a ton of action, there’s just enough going on to keep you engaged. You’d definitely walk out of the theater with that “Man, I enjoyed that.” feeling that we so long for from movies. For such a simple movie, it’s really not all that predictable, so when the plot twists and foreshadowing all weave together, you damn near want to yell eureka! But you don’t. Because it’s a movie theater. And you shouldn’t yell. Or clap. Ever.
So what do I rate? Theater, Redbox, or Nah, Nevermind? Theater. It’s very much worth a Friday evening if you don’t have shit else to do. So check it out. Definitely worth the ticket and ICEE price.
OTHER NOTES
- Julia Roberts is queen of the worry face and almost cry eyes. You know the Shit Just Got Real scene in Bad Boys 2? She would’ve nailed that. She has the eyes for it. I saw it in The Secret In Their Eyes. I saw it in Money Monster. If there’s a scene that calls for a close-up with a face/expression that says “My palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.” then she’s going to knock it out of the park.
- Shout out to Officer McNulty.
- Lenny was the best character. He was me. Just like “Dammit man, GAHDDDDDDD. Fine. What do you need from me?”
- The Monster Monster intro dance is exactly what I’ll do before entering rooms if I get rich.
- The girlfriend broke my heart. Like yo I’m tryna do for us and this is how you act?
- The lie isn’t what hurt everyone, the messenger did.
- IBIS was meant to sound like ISIS, right? Or am I fake-woke?
