Starring: Steve Coogan, David Mitchell, Isla Fisher, Shanina Shaik, Sophie Cookson, Asa Butterfield, Shirley Henderson, Stephen Fry
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Release date: 21st February 2020
Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan) is a self-made man. From a young age, he’s been a wheeler-dealer, constantly looking for ways to make a fast buck. He gets into the rag trade and soon buys his first business.
For his 60th birthday there is going to be a huge bash on the island of Mykanos in Greece. No expense is to be spared. His ex-wife is there with her new man, his children are there, his over protective mother and also his very young girlfriend who is the same age as his son. His biography is being written by a writer named Nick (David Mitchell) and Nick is there to observe and document Richard’s life.
Sir Richard’s life seems pretty perfect, but is it?
‘Greed’ is bought to you by the writer/ director, Michael Winterbottom, who you may know for his films, ‘24 Hour Party People’, ‘A Cock and Bull Story’ and all of the ‘The Trip…’ tv series. He has a good and long established working relationship with Steve Coogan and you can see that in this film too.
The storyline mirrors the lives of people like Sir Philip Green, the infamous self-made billionaire who is the chairman of the Arcadia Group. They are a retail company who own the likes of Topshop, Evans, and Dorothy Perkins. Green was/ is known for his extravagant spending, and when his son celebrated a special occasion a few years ago, he allegedly spent £4million on an event in the French Riviera and invited 200 people along and got top celebrities to perform.
There are a good few similarities between Sr Richard and Sir Philip and these make the story more satirical and interesting.
Steve Coogan is one of those actors that you either love or hate… He’s done many various roles over the years and totally blew everyone away with his portrayal of Stan Laurel in last years hit movie, ‘Stan & Ollie’. Characters like Sir Richard McCreadie seem to come very naturally to Steve Coogan and he’s the perfect choice for this role. The rest of the cast are pretty great too and each bring something valuable to the story. Asa Butterfield plays the son, Finn and he’s really come into his own as an actor over the past few years. Since he played the lead role in the 2008 film adaptation of ‘The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas’, he’s just gotten stronger and stronger as an actor.
If you like your films with a slightly satirical and tongue in cheek feel then definitely give ‘Greed’ a watch. Steve Coogan is great at playing smarmy and full of their selves characters and he doesn’t disappoint in this movie.
Really great, give it a watch!
Overall: 8.5/10
