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Clooney and Co. show us the ‘Money’…

Money (Monster) makes the world go around, but the buck stops here for a timely hostage thriller starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts due in May…

Money Monster is both a hostage-drama and a story about heavy financial-hitters and those they hit – and those who hit back.  Lee Gates (George Clooney) is a loud and proud TV pundit whose show has made him both a media personality and a friend of Wall Street. But after a high-flying tech stock unexpectedly crashes an irate investor Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) manages to get into the studio and takes Gates, his crew, and producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) hostage live on air.  With his finger on a dead-man switch and a bomb-vest on the presenter, Kyle demands to know why his life and that of his family was destroyed. At first Gates wants only to survive the experience but begins to realise that there’s more to the financial crash than meets the eye… As their story plays out in real-time, will the truth play out as the world watches?

Taking some of its cues from the likes of the great film Network and a presentational style that feels like Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, it’s possible the trailer does fall into the trap of revealing too many of the story beats for the entire film – we suspect we know the entire story from the montage of clips, whatever order they’re shown in – but put Clooney and Roberts in a movie together (their first since the Ocean’s outings) and have it directed by Jodie Foster and it has to be worth checking out. Add to that the topical and often all-too-real story of Wall Street playing hard and fast with the rules at the expense of the little guy and this could be a solid and timely thriller that will find a large audience beyond the obvious star-power.

Money Monster arrives in cinemas in May andwith another further collaboration with the Coen Brothers, the much-anticipated Hollywood satire Hail, Ceasar! also due out soon, this could be a nice double-whammy for Mr Clooney…