‘Money Monster’ movie is a treat

This is not quite a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s nailbiters, but still manages to thrill and chill!

George Clooney

As the old master taught modern directors: “I needn’t terrorise the audience, their imaginations will do it for me!” And this is what Jodie Foster uses to her advantage: that age old question of will the bomb go off?

George Clooney plays the part of an arrogant financial TV presenter who gives bad advice to the wrong man. When he appears on his TV show again, under the guidance of his seasoned producer, played by Julia Roberts, a furious man (Jack O’Connell) brandishing a bomb walks into a live broadcast and threatens to blow up the building unless the Clooney character apologises.

The film starts off as a lightweight exposé of financial corruption and the power of television and how that glitzy medium succeeds in distorting the truth. Where, initially, the tension lay in the ticking time bomb and the itchy fingers of an angry everyday man, it turns into a chase towards an audience-friendly climax: will the real culprit (with South African connections, nogal!) be exposed and forced to admit his deception, or will the corrupt billionaire escape?

Miss Foster’s film is a treat. She doesn’t really make a political statement or comment on America’s financial institutions. Those elements do come into play, but are reduced to background material as the Hitchcockian elements creep in and a ticking bomb is the actual hero of the story.

Money Monster is an enjoyable exercise in entertainment as especially Jack O’Connell gives a sterling performance. And just to see George Clooney sing and dance alone is worth the price of an admission ticket!

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