Greetings again from the darkness. Adam McKay and Michael Lewis sought to educate us on the corruption and deceit within the marrow of the financial world in The Big Short. Director Jodie Foster and three writers (Jim Kouf, Alan DiFiore, Jamie Linden) scale things way back to show the effects on a single, working class man … and how Wall Street and the media conspire to make it hard on us little guys.
George Clooney stars as Lee Gates, a Jim Cramer type cable news financial guru … the kind of media star who makes an Apollo Creed style entrance (complete with “dancing”) for each segment. Julia Roberts plays Patty, the show’s ultra-talented producer, and the one who keeps Gates and the show from flying off the rails. It’s just another typically hectic day in the studio, when the show is abruptly interrupted by a man who charges the stage pointing a gun at Gates. Kyle (Jack O’Connell, Unbroken) has a few things to get off his chest, and makes it clear that he blames Gates for a recent financial loss … and he expects some answers.
It turns out that Gates had presented a recent investment as a sure thing, and Kyle believed him. When that company lost $800 million overnight, Kyle’s loss was his $60,000 nest egg. Kyle represents the work-class folks who are simply fed up with the lies and manipulation for which the media and Wall Street seeming conspire on a regular basis.
It’s Jodie Foster’s first directorial outing since The Beaver (2011), and she seems at home with a straight-forward hostage-for-admission story. Created for a mass audience (no segment or issue goes too deep), there are snippets of Clooney and Roberts humor that will satisfy their fans. The three most interesting characters are the gun-wielding, end-of-the rope Kyle; his pissed-with-a-twist girlfriend played by Emily Meade (who provides the film a lift when it’s needed); and Caitriona Balfe as Diane Lester, the communications officer for the evil corporation at the heart of the swindle.
As with so many things these days, the hostage ordeal plays out on TV and captures the limited attention span of average Americans … heck, the film even references the OJ Simpson event. Of course, this film isn’t an instigator, but rather an exhibitor – a mirror of the times. Once the spectacle ends, everyone returns to their normal activities.
Since this thriller really only offers a few moments of real suspense, viewers might have more fun spotting and identifying the multitude of cable TV faces sprinkled throughout. The 1970’s were the era for extraordinary conspiracy movies, and this one is less Network or Chinatown, and more like Phone Booth or John Q. ‘Forget it Kyle. It’s Wall Street (and cable news).’
watch the trailer:
Movie Reviews from the Dark 