Money Monster

"It can be a glorious thing when movies attempt to boil down public rancor over a certain issue into a fictional story about one man's struggle – the power of cinema to distill widely held feelings into a propulsive, personal story is unmatched. That was clearly the goal here, to spin the widespread enmity for the 1% into a gripping real-time thriller in which specific characters are held accountable for the financial inequalities that divide our society."

"As an indictment of Wall Street chicanery, it’s largely toothless; as a pure thriller, it only quickens the pulse once or twice; as a conspiracy saga, its central mystery falls flat."

"There's no escaping it: Money Monster is a basic, silly movie. But it has on its side a top-notch cast and an entire absence of self-seriousness."

"You miss the lingering after-sting of catharsis that was a regular signature of Lumet’s work, but in the heat of the moment, Money Monster’s bluster and nerve keeps you hooked."

"You will not necessarily learn anything here about how TV or high finance really work, but you will be invited to enjoy the illusion of such enlightenment in the skilled and charismatic company of Julia Roberts and George Clooney."

"This is no masterpiece, but it’s amiable slice of popcorn entertainment."

"Foster's film doesn't doubt that money rules our lives. But it does wonder, provocatively, why we're dumb enough to let it."

"A film that is both less entertaining and less significant than it imagines."

"Unfortunately, as a director, Foster shows no knack or instinct for building tension; her style is strictly presentational, brisk and efficient..."

"A fast-paced, entertaining, if somewhat on-the-nose mélange of thriller, satire, and drama..."