Since transitioning from TV to film in the mid-’90s, Michael Winterbottom has made at least one narrative or documentary feature each year, creatively covering topics ranging from the Manchester music scene (24 Hour Party People) to an adaptation of a famously unfilmable novel (Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story).
The writer/director’s accomplice in many of his greatest endeavors is actor Steve Coogan, with whom he reteams for Greed, a hilarious look at the obscenely rich and the extreme wealth disparities in the fashion industry.
Playing tycoon Sir Richard McCreadie, Coogan relishes yet another role as a buffoon, but unlike past iterations — including the fictionalized version of himself in the wonderful The Trip series — there’s nothing remotely redemptive about “Greedy” McCreadie.
Propelled by flashy editing and Winterbottom’s textbook crisp cinematography, Greed nimbly moves among its various narrative components, courtesy of the effective framing device of Sir Richard’s biographer Nick (David Mitchell, “Peep Show”) who is conducting research on our protagonist.
Through interviews with Sir Richard’s ex-wife (Isla Fisher) and mother (Shirley Henderson), plus visits to the Sri Lankan factories where his companies’ garments are made for minimal costs, the comically awkward Nick learns about the billionaire’s rise to prominence, which has resulted in a recent parliamentary committee hearing regarding his shady business practices.
Across these timeline hops and especially amid preparation for his character’s ridiculously lavish, Gladiator-inspired 60th birthday party on the Greek island of Mykonos, Coogan is a steady source of zingers, but always at the expense of others. Due to the wince-inducing nature of these laughs, one fondly awaits Sir Richard’s comeuppance, though the form it takes is somewhat far-fetched, albeit still satisfying in an aptly sick way.
Somehow also managing a way to make witty but poignant statements on the Syrian refugee crisis, Greed joins Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat in the ranks of recent films that expose contemporary loopholes that continue to makethe rich richer and the poor poorer. And as with Soderbergh’s underseen gem, Winterbottom’s film gives savvy viewers the tools to take action and get the political ball rolling to enact positive change and help close the global wealth-inequality gap.
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