"Money Monster" posts too many losses in its indictment of Wall Street.
"Money Monster" would like to be a shrewd dissertation about contemporary America, similar to 1970's classics like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network" were in their time. Unfortunately, the script here is too predictable and its characters two-dimensional. Jodie Foster directs a game George Clooney and Julia Roberts in the story of a financial cable show host who's taken hostage on air by an irate investor (Jack O'Connell) who lost his shirt. That's a timely premise, what with all the issues concerning Wall Street these days, but it squanders the opportunity with rudimentary flaws.
The story plays out in real time, but its ticking clock is abandoned with half an hour left. Most of the supporting characters are woefully underwritten. And even its villain is nothing more than a greedy CEO. How cliché. "The Big Short" indicted the whole broken economic system, but this popcorn thriller doesn't come close to that film's sting. It's not a bad investment for two hours at the Cineplex, but it should have been something much more worthy.