Greedy People

It is probably true that any black comedy is rarely laugh out loud funny, but I suppose that depends on your sense of humour? This starts off light hearted enough before turning to the theme of its title, and exploring the darker side of peoples natures when a bag of money comes into play. So the early, light hearted smiles and chuckles, give way to a more uncomfortable feeling as the bodies begin to fall, whilst avoiding becoming too morose.

The look and sound is at the higher end of B movie standard, the script is respectably tight and coherent, the characters are believably eccentric, likeable, and interesting. There are some great comedy performances delivering tight, well structured and funny/amusing dialogue.

Maybe not a Saturday night must see, but definitely a Friday night weekend opener.

There will be nothing like Fargo anymore. Even like Ozark. Risky scripts in general are dead. I was expecting something risky here, but after watching the first 30 minutes, I noticed I was wrong.

First, the script is predictable, so consequently the movie is weak. Ending is a joke. I do not know why producers and directors do the same kind of movie all the time. To add, they think some decisions are clever, and obviously they're not.

Second, acting here is the best because of one person. JGH does a masterclass here. All the other cast are just ok.

Last, settings and camera work are great too. I have enjoyed the rural aura.

So, if you have watched Fargo and/or Ozark, the movie Greedy people is just a cheap version of it. Think about it. Nothing great here, just empty entertainment.

This movie sneaked up on me and surprised me how much I enjoyed it. This is a tale about deception, greed and true human emotions and is very cleverly wrapped up in a Tarantino esq story which jumps back and forth in time to show the lead up to an event which is the back bone of the story. Its not so much a 'who dunnit' as its clear who has done what but the events which unravel around it keep you guessing with who and why. Not so much a comedy as it is a drama with some darkly humorous moments.

The cast is excellent. Im never a fan of casting English actors into roles which require thick American accents but Himesh Patel and Lily James do an admirable job. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the stand out performer portraying a slightly unhinged and chaotic character. Certainly a role I haven't seen him perform before.

5 stars is typically the minimum IMDB rating for a movie I will consider watching. I was going to give this 5 stars when it was 95% over, but the ending was good so I bumped it up to a 6. I'm surprised Gordon-Levitt agreed to be in this film. It had a low budget, 'B' movie type of feel, something that would go straight to streaming only, or a TV movie. Not bad, but not the quality I typically associate with him. It just felt cheap. I'm not sure if it was the acting, flimsy dialog, the screenplay or the somewhat predictable series of events. But movie just seemed a bit goofy. It was decent, held my attention, but seemed like it was missing something. I do appreciate that it was light hearted and had a pretty good ending. The ending was probably the most realistic part of the whole film. It's rare in Hollywood to have an ending where everyone got what they deserved, albeit an extreme version of justice.

Greedy People is a black comedy clearly inspired by the Coen brothers as its colourful cast of characters squabble over a bag of money without communicating to one another, leading to disastrous results. It's obviously not as well done as its inspirations, especially since the shift from quirky comedy to thriller isn't smooth but it remains twisty fun. The humour is mostly front-loaded and the biggest shocks come towards the end.

It starts off as a two-hander between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Himesh Patel, who have a suitably awkward rapport and Gordon-Levitt's washed up cop who spends his days learning mandarin and playing his own music is definitely the highlight of the whole film. Lily James takes control for a chapter, grappling with what she's doing effectively and Uzo Aduba is the unwavering moral centre in the vein of Marge Gunderson.

Potsy Ponciroli's direction waits until over 20 minutes in to drop the title which works beautifully and the most serious moments taking place in torrential rainfall makes those scenes look so good. The chaptered structure also works with it having a fairly big cast who all do their own things and the film has a real talent for executing those characters. Jordan Lehning's score has a fittingly quirky nature as well which disappears in the second half.