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George Clooney stars as Lee Gates, a flashy Jim Kramer-ish cable television network host of a financial advice program called “Money Monster”, happy to dole out stock advice in a snarky, cocky manner, drawing more out of entertainment and spectacle than in how it might affect those on the other side should any of his “rock-solid” tips prove wrong. Someone it has affected finally forces him to learn first-hand when a distraught young man named Kyle Budwell storms onto the set during the live feed of the show, forcing Lee at gunpoint to put on a vest full of explosives, wanting some answers, as well as some contrition, after losing his life savings on supposedly sure-fire advice in putting one’s money in Ibis Clear Capital, a company the host persistently extoled the virtues of that suffered a major setback to the tune of $800 million in losses practically overnight, claiming a software glitch to its complicated corporate algorithm as responsible for things going haywire. Now Lee’s going to have to put his life on the line to get Kyle the answers he’s seeking from the show’s slated guest, Walt Camby, the jet-setting CEO of Ibis, on just how such an unlikely event could occur that would cost investors to potentially lose their livelihoods on a freak error.
Julia Roberts plays “Money Monster” producer Patty Fenn, who is set to leave to greener pastures to work for another network. Patty is the voice in Lee’s earpiece who tries to keep him on point, and in this case, to try to keep him alive, feeding him advice on what to do or say to his violent unexpected guest, while also making the decision to keep directing the show, coercing the host to do his job and get Kyle the answers he’s after by asking tough questions to IBIS chief communications officer, Diane Lester, in lieu of actually getting to the absent Camby for information. Those questions make Lester, who was hired to just deliver PR talking points (and to entertain Camby on the side), take a more aggressive stance, digging for some real answers that now even she’s curious about.
