Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan got together again. So you know what that means – Steve behaving badly through the sunniest parts of Europe. And while that was 100% true, this is not another in “The Trip To” series; that film comes out next month.
This film, Greed, is not a semi-quasi-mockumentary trip movie. In Greed, Coogan is a bully. And while you might question, “What’s the dif?” The dif is fictional fashion mogul Sir Richard McCreadie (Coogan) has a lot more money and influence than Coogan IRL. Aptly named, Sir Richard is a dick. As with Trump, clearly an influence on Coogan’s character, it’s hard to tell whether Sir Richard is a dick on purpose or if he just doesn’t give half a thought about anyone “beneath” him, which is pretty much everybody. Also, like Trump, Richard likes to win, bigly. And, like Trump, he doesn’t care whether or not he cheats to achieve victory; integrity is for suckers. The parallels between Sir Richard and our current president are so close that the one has to be at least a partial derivation of the other. Hence, I’m going to leave the comparison at that.
The film examines the events leading to Richard’s 60th birthday, which the toothy turd has chosen to celebrate by buying a significant amount of Mediterranean beach property and building upon it a mini Roman Colosseum. The highlight of the toga party will include a recreation of gladiators battling a live adult male lion. Is it fair to say that if your life’s ambition is to recreate Roman bloodbath sport you’re an asshole? Yeah, I think that’s fair.
Greed is more of a collage than an integrated narrative. There are several vignettes of Richard being a piece of shit as a student and a young entrepreneur … and more importantly being enabled by mom (Shirley Henderson, who -for good and bad- plays exactly as old as she needs to be in any given scene) to continue his sociopathic behavior. Richard’s gift for the con is only outweighed by his delight in pulling one. As a businessman, he simply takes this to the next level. Greed is full of tips and tricks to abuse the system so long as you start with a small fortune and do not care who pays the price for your villainy. At the start of the film, Richard presents his on-again-off-again wife (Isla Fisher) a check for $1.2 Billion. Billion. Like 1,000 Millions. How can afford such a generous gift that no single human on Earth would ever need? That’s simple: it’s not his money. (Hint: If you have money, banks always give you more.)
It seems like most every director has a set stable of actors to summon when need appears. Some of these stables are more impressive than others. Martin Scorsese, for instance, can probably draw upon Robert DeNiro, Jonah Hill, or Leonardo DiCaprio at a moment’s notice. Michael Winterbottom calls upon Steve Coogan for his acting challenges. (Interviewer gets up, starts to walk out … Winterbottom: “Wait! Wait! I can also conjure up Rob Brydon whenever I need him!” Door slams.)
And, that said, I like the idea of Greed better than the film itself. Greed is an empty film full of nothing but empty values and Steve Coogan’s ridiculous dentures. The viewer can sympathize with the people being abused by Richard and his spawn, but we never really get to know any of them. Their poverty is as empty as Richard’s soul. I think every English speaker on the planet should know exactly what an emotionally crippled and empathetically bankrupt individual Donald Trump is, but what’s the point of fictionalizing it, really?
The ultrawealthy manage to avoid strife
With a mojo that cuts like a knife
You don’t need church and steeple
But by the time you’re buying people
You might want to rethink your life
Rated R, 104 Minutes
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Writer: Michael Winterbottom
Genre: Mocking the kind of people who makes movies like this
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Billionaires looking for tips
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People for whom comeuppance is insufficient
