Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Giancarlo Esposito, Caitriona Balfe
Director: Jodie Foster
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 98 minutes
Showing: Cinema Magic, Metroplex Mall Naalya, Century Cinemax Acacia Mall, Cineplex Cinema, Oasis Mall and Numax Cinema, Entebbe.
This movie had me at George Clooney and Julia Roberts directed by Jodie Foster. I reckon I am not alone in this. But we all know this is not enough to get anyone through 98 minutes of screen time. Which brings us to the plot.
Clooney stars as Lee Gates, TV host of the business show, Money Matters. On the show, he gives finance tips, especially on the stock exchange and the like. Roberts plays show director, Patty Fenn. For the current show, Gates plans to host THE CEO of a company which has just tanked on the stock exchange, losing clients millions. However, Walt Camby (West), said CEO is a no-show. But that is the least of Gates’ worries.
During the show, a guy who seems to be a delivery man interrupts the show, pulls a gun on Gates and makes him wear a bomb vest. Turns out he was one of the people who took Gates’ advice and invested in the tanked company. Now he wants answers on how the money was lost. The now hostage situation is on live TV with Fenn trying to help even as she continues directing the show so that all the right angles are covered… journalists!
This is pretty thrilling stuff with just the right touch of a serious subject that many can relate to. Also, while the movie keeps shifting between time to explain what really happened, it still feels like everything happened in one day. Now that is some seamless direction! The cast also didn’t disappoint – making us laugh even amid all that tension.
However, for some reason this movie has received mixed reviews worldwide. Don’t know if people wanted more from the story because it definitely was not the acting that had a problem. Nor is it the lack of a storyline that makes for more than 90 minutes of entertainment.