Film still of Money Monster © 2016 CTMG, Inc. All rights reserved
Julia Roberts and George Clooney taken hostage in Money Monster
We hadn't seen them together since Ocean’s Twelve, and today they are reunited on-screen at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. George Clooney and Julia Roberts headline Money Monster by Jodie Foster. Glamour and tension characterise this live television thriller, presented Out of Competition.
Imagine you're watching TV, when suddenly the presenter is taken hostage. Live. Lee Gates (George Clooney), a star of both television and Wall Street, is the victim of a fanatic in the audience. The man, who was ruined after following the host's financial advice, wants revenge, gun in hand, before millions of viewers. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Patty (Julia Roberts) communicates with Lee via his earpiece.
Five years after The Beaver, also presented Out of Competition, Money Monster shows the most vicious side of finance combined with television at its superficial peak, and the anger of a scorned, average American. In sum, a resolutely political thriller. "The financial sector has become uncontrollable", comments George Clooney. "When things go wrong, it's difficult to know exactly what happened and it's often small investors who pay the price."
The relationship between the small investor in rebellion and the orotund host isn't so black and white. While the attack was prepared outside, the power balance weakens inside the studio, and the enemy becomes a common one: the financial markets. The live thriller turns into an investigation, and the TV clowns keep the media quest alive, attempting to thwart one of Wall Street's darkest schemes.
