Greed
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: February 28, 2020
5.7
USER SCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
4
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Review this movie
VOTE NOW
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Check box if your review contains spoilers 0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
5
TVJerryMar 9, 2020
The film looks like it's gonna be a smart satire, but ends up being a sharp indictment of the fast fashion industry. Steve Coogan stars as a smarmy, self assured billionaire who's made his fortune selling cheap clothes. Much of the movieThe film looks like it's gonna be a smart satire, but ends up being a sharp indictment of the fast fashion industry. Steve Coogan stars as a smarmy, self assured billionaire who's made his fortune selling cheap clothes. Much of the movie revolves around the extravagant 60th birthday party he's throwing for himself, but the timeline also bounces between his history of unscrupulous deal making and a public inquiry that's threatened his fortune and reputation. While the movie is set up to look like a witty send-up (common territory for director Michael Winterbottom), this film, and the rich people who populate it, are mostly mean-spirited, insensitive and entitled. The side stories about their disregard for the poor and struggling begins to overshadow the fun. As a result, the film ends up being a bleak condemnation of the lust for money over humanitarian considerations. There is even a parade of condemning statistics at the end.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
GinaKMar 7, 2020
An uneven comedy about an aggressive and amoral entrepreneur. We follow the life of Sir Richard McCreadie, played by Steve Coogan, from his days at prep school to his death. He cheats constantly and is never likable because he is always readyAn uneven comedy about an aggressive and amoral entrepreneur. We follow the life of Sir Richard McCreadie, played by Steve Coogan, from his days at prep school to his death. He cheats constantly and is never likable because he is always ready to take advantage of everyone from his employees to his family – anyone who crosses his path. Not savage enough to be satire, the film is entertaining (more or less) but its focus is too fuzzy to make the audience really care about anyone or what happens to them. Watch “The Trip to Italy” and “The Trip to Spain” instead. They are simply witty and entertaining without the failed attempts at satire and social commentary in this film.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
MarkTakayamaJun 7, 2021
This is a great movie to know the fashion industry in the UK. I learned a lot of things. Basically, this movie criticized greedy capitalists. Especially I saw huge criticisms of sweat factories in Sri Lanka. That was a good point. I laughed aThis is a great movie to know the fashion industry in the UK. I learned a lot of things. Basically, this movie criticized greedy capitalists. Especially I saw huge criticisms of sweat factories in Sri Lanka. That was a good point. I laughed a couple of scenes. Steve Coogan did a great job. … Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
arrivistJan 7, 2021
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First Winterbottom film I've seen since 24 Hour Party People. I watched it against a backlash of poor reviews to get a bit of an insight into the life of Philip Green, which exposed his businesses model of asset stripping and using slave labour. The film itself is a bit weak, but engaging for the first 2 acts.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
4
JLuis_001May 16, 2020
Social critique works well in a satire when you manage to do it with some nerve. And also by being both poignant and sharp, but above all being cohesive.

Greed has parts of those elements, but it never throws a big punch to get the attentionSocial critique works well in a satire when you manage to do it with some nerve. And also by being both poignant and sharp, but above all being cohesive.

Greed has parts of those elements, but it never throws a big punch to get the attention it wants from the audience, and that's mainly because the execution felt lazy.
There's no juice in the humor and most of the characters lack depth and development.

Greed is considered a sin, but mediocre humor is just as bad.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
8
Bertaut1Mar 2, 2020
A savage and hilarious satire

We live in an era where wealth is distributed upwards and the gap between the haves and have-nots has become wider than ever. According to inequality.org, the richest 1% of the world's population controls 45% ofA savage and hilarious satire

We live in an era where wealth is distributed upwards and the gap between the haves and have-nots has become wider than ever. According to inequality.org, the richest 1% of the world's population controls 45% of global wealth, whilst the poorest 64% of the population control less than 1% of the wealth. In 2018, Oxfam reported that the wealth of the 26 richest people in the world was equal to the combined wealth of the 3.5 billion poorest people. This is the milieu of Greed, a hilarious satire from prolific genre-hopping writer/director Michael Winterbottom. Examining how the rich get richer, the film focuses on a successful British clothing entrepreneur, and its bread and butter is the concomitant grotesquery that results when an individual has the same wealth as a small country. Mixing send-up and satire with more serious socio-economic points, Greed doesn't really do or say a huge amount that hasn't been done or said before, but it's entertaining, amusing, and undeniably relevant.

Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan) is one of Britain's richest men. The perma-tanned "self-made" billionaire is the owner of several clothing chains and is known as "the King of the High Street", although a less complimentary nickname is "Greedy" McCreadie. On the Greek island of Mykonos, the final (chaotic) touches are being put to McCreadie's Roman-themed 60th birthday bash – complete with mandatory togas, a fake coliseum, and a real, albeit somnolent, lion. Much of the story is told through the lens of McCreadie's "official biographer" Nick (David Mitchell), a classically-trained literature buff who drops quotes from Shakespeare and Shelley into everyday conversation, and who hates himself for agreeing to write a fawning celebration of McCreadie.

The idea that a billionaire could be so cut off from workaday reality as to stage a Roman-themed birthday party on a Greek island may sound far too on the nose, too ridiculously hubristic to say anything of any worth, too over-the-top to even function as satire. However, McCreadie is based on Sir Philip Green, chairman of the Arcadia Group, avoider of taxes, exploiter of the working-class, asset-stripper, and enemy of the #MeToo movement. Similarly, many of the details of McCreadie's ludicrous birthday are lifted verbatim from Green's very real 50th birthday celebrations in 2002 – when he flew 219 guests to Cyprus for a three-day toga party.

McCreadie, of course, is a hilariously despicable slimeball, a man who unironically feels hard done by when Syrian refugees show up on the (public) beach he's using for his birthday, and Coogan portrays him as not only narcissistic and void of conscience, but as a classless philistine – whereas Nick, for example, can quote Shakespeare and Shelley, McCreadie proudly gets his cultural know-how from BrainyQuote. However, for all his loathsomeness, McCreadie is a symbol for the system that gave rise to and sustains him; he's simply the result of an economy that takes from the poor and gives to the rich. For all his crass hubristic excess, McCreadie is neither an aberrant individual nor is he a criminal – he's a vulgar product of the system.

Aesthetically, the film employs a plethora of techniques, including non-linear editing, direct-to-camera addresses, YouTube videos to provide exposition, split-screen, fake news footage, and title cards. However, it's at its most effective when at its simplest, particularly in scenes involving the wonderful Dinita Gohil as Amanda, McCreadie's overworked PA. Her interactions with Nick provide the emotional core of the story, and their scenes are all simple shot/counter-shot editing and blocking. And by far the film's best sequence, which comes towards the end, is another simple setup involving Amanda and McCreadie, wherein the scene tells its story not through aesthetic bombast or even dialogue, but through the expression on Gohil's face. It's the moment during which Winterbottom drops all pretence of comedy and focuses on the more serious issues that have hovered at the fringes since the opening seconds.

If I were to focus on any one problem, it would be two underdeveloped subplots. A (staged) reality TV show subplot involving McCreadie's daughter Lily (Sophie Cookson) provides for some very funny individual moments, but it contributes nothing whatsoever to the main plot. Additionally, the fact that McCreadie and his ex-wife Samantha (Isla Fisher) are still in love with one another is a theme which never really goes anywhere, which is a shame, as it could have provided some much-needed character development for her and some shades of grey for him.

For better or worse, we live in an age where there are more billionaires than ever before, and Greed is a comedy about the excess and disconnect of such people. However, so too is it a cautionary tale, a reminder that just because we're removed from exploitation doesn't mean such exploitation isn't happening.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
Mauro_LanariJan 17, 2022
Among the many negative consequences of the pandemic there is also the disappearance of independent cinema: by now financiers, producers, distributors belong to the streaming giants and consequently can no longer be attacked, much less theAmong the many negative consequences of the pandemic there is also the disappearance of independent cinema: by now financiers, producers, distributors belong to the streaming giants and consequently can no longer be attacked, much less the political-economic system that legitimizes them, the neoliberal aka turbocapitalist one. Winterbottom's film does what little is still possible to do: it alludes to them, explains the difference between tax evasion and avoidance (allowed by a specific legislation), shows Monte Carlo as one of the many offshore havens not abroad in some remote Caribbean island but here in Europe, but then he is forced to take it out on an intolerably too small fish.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
5
DawdlingPoetNov 28, 2021
I liked this film in terms of the cast and as a satire its ok but I wouldn't call it a laugh out loud comedy. Its more of a withering look at people who live to flaunt themselves and don't bother to think about the impact their life andI liked this film in terms of the cast and as a satire its ok but I wouldn't call it a laugh out loud comedy. Its more of a withering look at people who live to flaunt themselves and don't bother to think about the impact their life and lifestyle has on other people, more 'average joes'. Its a bit depressing to think that the super rich can be so self obsessed but then that's hardly news I suppose.

The setting (Greece) is nice, there are some pleasant panoramic shots shown and its a pretty watchable film. Its mildly amusing at times with some of the dialogue but its more effective in terms of showing the disdain such successful entrepreneurs can have (that's not to say that all are that way but some are). I thought it was interesting in terms of seeing so many British actors (Tim Key, David Mitchell, Stephen Fry etc.) in a foreign setting. Its a bit of a timely watch, what with refugee's featuring in the plot.

As a satirical film, its not bad. Its not what I'd regard a great film as such, with the main character not being entirely likeable but its ok. The ending is quite good, I felt - somewhat apt (I won't go into any details so as not to provide spoilers) and thought provoking with the statistics provided just before the credits roll. If your a fan of Steve Coogan and/or keen on such satirical films then yes, I'd recommend it, otherwise not so much.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
RobwinzApr 19, 2020
It's got some funny dialogue from Steve Coogan towards the other characters in the movie and it's sort of predictable at points, especially near the end of the movie but it's pretty good for passing the time.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
More From This Movie

52 Critic Reviews

5.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL