GREED – Rated R – 1 hr. 44 mins.

GREED – Rated R – 1 hr. 44 mins.

WRITER/DIRECTOR – Michael Winterbottom

WRITER – Sean Gray

STARRING – Steve Coogan, Isla Fisher, Shirley Henderson, David Mitchell, Asa Butterfield, Dinita Gohil, and Sophie Cookson

As we travel throughout a satire based on the life of a ruthless, super-rich Fashion tycoon Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), it seems that power and wealth have been flowing through his veins since birth.  As this self-made man focuses more on his fashion empire, than his ex-wife, his new wife, or his totally screwed up children, it seems that parliament wants to have a few words with him, regarding his unscrupulous business dealings both in the UK, and abroad.

And as we soon find out, you might want to be a tad more cautious of your greedy mis dealings, and how you treat your business associates, friends, and most of all, family too, as karma is coming for you…and in way too many directions for you to truly comprehend…

I give GREED a rating of WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON NETFLIX or STREAMING:  Coogan is totally entertaining, playing the ruthless fashion icon tyrant that is hell bent on amassing a fortune, off the backs of the poor seamstresses of many foreign lands.  And it seems too, that this particular role was written totally for Coogan to play, as he doesn’t seem to have to stretch to far artistically, for this rather good performance.  But as a whole, it seems that the other characters throughout, including Isla Fisher playing his still smitten ex-wife, are all rather superficial and one-dimensional, as she, and all the other characters feel as if they were just created as filler throughout this particular storyline.  I guess I should also make a point to commend Director and Writer Michael Winterbottom’s attempt to bring to light the plague of the fashion industry…as many garment workers toil in factories for mere dollars per day, as the owners of the fashion houses rake in the millions from consumers annually,  but I also think that since he conveyed this sentiment all throughout his film, the statistics he’s shares at the end of the film just comes across as an attempt to overstate the obvious.  Bottom line is, if you love Isla Fischer like I do, and if you adore Steve Coogan too, then taking an hour and 45 minutes out of you hectic schedule to catch this sometimes funny, sometimes demented, sometimes tragic film at home on your big screen, than by all means, please do so.  But,  if you’re contemplating heading out to catch GREED at a theater near you, please heed my warning, as I’m afraid when it’s all said and done, that you will feel like you not only wasted travel time, but some of your hard earned cash for this less-than-perfect film.