by Alyssa Ruiz

       “Money Monster” is a thriller filled with satire that opens your eyes to the truth behind our financial system, all while portraying why the media can’t always be trusted.

        Lee Gates (George Clooney) hosts of the television show “Money Monster” where he spends his days advising people on how to make a quick buck by investing in the right stocks. One bad recommendation lands him in a situation that involves one angry, and now broke, investor, Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), a bomb and a loaded gun.

        As Budwell takes Gates hostage live on-air, it quickly turns into the most intense episode of Money Monster ever.

        After investing and losing $60,000 into finance company IBIS, Budwell wants answers as to what made IBIS’ stock rapidly drop $800 million in value in a single day.

        As the production team scrambles backstage to locate the CEO of IBIS, Walt Camby (Dominic West), who has coincidentally been out of the country and out of contact with his people for three days, these questions become answered and it is made clear that Camby is a liar and an unethical thief.      

        In the mean time it is producer Patty Fenn’s (Julia Roberts) job to keep Gates calm as he remains strapped to a bomb.

        Time goes on and Budwell’s patience thins, his anger strikes and the suspense leaves audiences at the edge of their seat.

        As the world watches Money Monster live they become invested in the story, which leads people to feel compassion for a dead Budwell by the end of the movie.

        Director Jodie Foster does a remarkable job at incorporating current problems our country faces combined with superb acting by some of Hollywood’s top A-list actors. This marks Foster’s fourth movie she has directed.

        “Money Monster” came in third in the box office during its opening weekend bringing in $14.7 million, and out of the top 10 movies it is the only one directed by a woman.

        Now is it just a coinsidence that this movie was released right in the middle of our country’s most heated presidential race ever where Wall Street has been a main discussion?

        Even if you’re not a numbers kind-of-person and stocks, bonds, and financing seems like a foreign language to you, don’t let that stop you from seeing this action-packed movie that is a real eye-opener as to what occurs behind closed doors in our financial system.