Review: Satirical 'Greed' is part farce, part Greek tragedy, part political lecture
In the satire “Greed,” writer-director Michael Winterbottom has a lot to say about the inequality of wealth in the world — but his story works better when he shows instead of tells.
At the center of the story is Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), aka “Greedy” McCreadie, a British billionaire at the head of a major retail conglomerate. Having just given his top executive and ex-wife Samantha (Isla Fisher) a $1.2 billion dividend on the business — borrowed from the bank, and stashed in a tax haven in Monaco — Sir Richard and his trophy wife Naomi (played by Victoria’s Secret model Shanina Shaik) plan a lavish 60th birthday party on his Greek isle.
The theme of the party is ancient Rome, though Sir Richard’s only familiarity with the era is repeated viewings of “Gladiator.” That doesn’t keep him from commissioning a plywood arena, and the rental of a lion.
While the party planning goes on, with Sir Richard’s assistant Amanda (Dinita Gohil) trying to prod a group of Syrian refugees off the nearby beach, other dramas play out. Daughter Lily (Sophie Cookson) brings her boyfriend Fabian (Ollie Locke), to live out their relationship for a reality-TV crew (directed by former “Doctor Who” companion Pearl Mackie). Younger son Finn (Asa Butterfield) broods in the background, making arch references to Oedipus — the king who murdered his father — to Sir Richard’s unctuous biographer, Nick (David Mitchell).
Winterbottom — who has worked with Coogan on such varied movies as “The Trip” and its sequels, “Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story” and “24 Hour Party People” — has crafted a script that’s as much policy-paper data as jokes. We are told about legal tax evasion, shady bankruptcy dodges, and the average daily wages of a Sri Lankan garment worker (about £4), but without the finesse with which “The Big Short” put across similar information.
“Greed” works, to pinch a phrase from “Wall Street’s” Gordon Gekko, when Winterbottom deftly skewers the childish antics of the McCreadie family, revealing how little they notice the damage they do to the less-wealthy around them. In this way, Coogan is particularly well deployed, his talent for playing arrogant gits taken to its apex.
There’s more than a little of a certain American billionaire (or so he claims) in Coogan’s portrayal of McCreadie. He’s a fake-tanned man obsessed with appearances and ignorant of culture, who knows how to make deals and run up bills but not how to build anything of value. Coogan’s satirical performance is sometimes sharp but often a meat-axe — but, either way, they get the job done.
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‘Greed’
★★★
Opened February 28 in select cities; opens Friday, March 6, at six theaters in Utah: Broadway Centre Cinemas (Salt Lake City), Megaplex at The District (South Jordan), Megaplex Thanksgiving Point (Lehi), Cinemark Jordan Landing (West Jordan), Cinemark Provo 16 and AMC Provo 12. Rated R for pervasive language and brief drug use. Running time: 104 minutes.