Trigger warnings

Before I go any further. There’s violence in this film.

Yes, a film review because I know so much about movies that I can review them…sarcasm mode completely kicked in…but onto the movie! I’ll lose the sarcasm mode while I scribble some words that could possibly be construed as praise.

All hail Jodie Foster!

I can’t recall when I first remember seeing Foster, I know I saw her as a child actor and she was definitely a familiar face in Silence of the Lambs, I suspect this was her first ‘grown up’ movie I’d seen her in and the only one I haven’t liked has been Contact but that might have something to do with how it was adapted from the book. With this movie she’s moving into a totally different era of her career and I think it’s going to be really, really good.

What the movie is about

Financial TV host Lee Gates (George Clooney) and his producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor (Jack O’Connell playing Kyle Budwell) takes over their studio.

Yes, a totally extreme situation. Budwell walks in with two boxes, puts them down on the set during filming, puts Gates at gunpoint and makes him put on a suicide vest. He insists the cameras remain on at all times so that everything is broadcast worldwide.

What the movie is really about

The world of finance and how some people wheel and deal without thought to the consequences for small investors. Their only thought is for their financial reward.

Spoilers?

Just one. We’re treated to the idea that Gates is a bimbo but with the ability to perform well on camera. That he doesn’t actually think about consequences of what he’s doing until he’s forced to because he has both a gun and a suicide vest. But even then, Patty is the one pulling the strings and keeping him focussed and in line.

This is illustrated in a cute way when a producer gets hold of a tube of a viagra type cream which is supposed to work really well. Gates asks him why he hasn’t tried it yet and makes him do so. When the producer rings him back with confirmation that it works he’s told to put it away and get back to work. Yes, that goes really well. Gates hasn’t thought through the consequences of the cream. It’s a nice example of how empty headed he really is. There are many examples throughout the film of how Patty is really in charge and he’s just the show man.

Props

He opens his show with a song and dance. He’s wearing a lovely, gold, sparkly top hat which would make a wonderful cosplay item for Moist von Lipwig from Making Money by Terry Pratchett.

There you go, how to get a reference to Pratchett into an article about a totally unrelated movie. But I really want that hat.

Plot holes and stuff

Yes, there are some but I’m not going to reference them here. I will quote the last line of the movie as it’s very funny.

Patty Fenn: [final line] So what the hell kind of show are we going to do next week?