Greed

Although its heart is in the right place and it tackles some very important ethical issues, this blackly comic satire often feels too heavy-handed to be an effective social commentary, and not consistently funny enough to completely work as a comedy.

Premise: As preparations are underway on the Greek island of Mykonos for high street fashion billionaire Sir Richard “Greedy” McCreadie’s (Steve Coogan) 60th birthday party, his official biographer (David Mitchell) looks back over his life, while his ex-wife (Isla Fisher), children (Sophie Cookson and Asa Butterfield) and other friends and family gather for the opulent celebration of a man who made his fortune off the back of cheap overseas labour.

Review:

If I’m being totally honest, one of the three stars I’ve awarded this film is probably just for having the guts to tackle such an uncomfortable subject in what is still a reasonably mainstream film. Greed makes it clear that, although Sir Richard “Greedy” McCreadie (Steve Coogan) may be a particularly unpleasant person, he’s just a symptom of a far wider international problem, namely the exploitation of underpaid overseas workers to supply the West’s cheap fashion retailers. As McCreadie himself points out, he’s not doing anything illegal, and he’s not doing anything that nearly all of the UK’s high street fashion retailers aren’t also doing. But as the title cards that are shown over the end credits explain, these actions have serious ramifications, both here and around the world.

That said, no matter how relevant and important these social issues are, this is a film not a documentary, and it is clearly trying to entertain and not just educate. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as successful in that goal as films like The Big Short and Vice were (to name just two recent films that managed to educate and entertain).

“…the message is an important one, even if it’s delivered in a slightly inelegant way…”

The film barely has a plot in the traditional sense, as it intercuts the present day preparations for Sir Richard’s extravagant birthday party with flashbacks to his schooldays and his start in the high street fashion industry, as well as his more recent run-ins with a parliamentary select committee into his questionable practices. While the flashbacks to his younger days do feel like genuine attempts to flesh out his character, the select committee scenes just feel like exposition designed to tell the audience the film’s key messages about the wider implications of high street fashion’s business practices. Worst still are the flashbacks with Sir Richard’s official biographer (David Mitchell), as the narrative purpose of his various interviews with people from Sir Richard’s past and present seems like nothing more than a clumsy way to deliver more exposition (for example, a meeting with a financial contact who explains how Sir Richard assets strips companies and exploits tax loopholes, and other interviews show how the people working in the Southeast Asian sweatshops are living in poverty to make Sir Richard’s cheap clothing).

Similarly, some of the characters don’t feel like characters at all, but just vehicles for the film’s more heavy-handed messages. This is particularly true of David Mitchell’s biographer character, and Dinita Gohil’s party-planning assistant, not to mention the group of Syrian refugees camped on the public beach, “spoiling” the party’s view.

“…the righteous fury of the filmmakers’ is palpable & justified…”

That’s not to say that the film’s a “bad” film by any stretch – the message is an important one (even if it’s delivered in a slightly inelegant way), and the righteous fury of the filmmakers’ is palpable and justified. The film also has some genuinely funny elements, the best of which is probably the recurring jokes relating to Sir Richard’s daughter Lily (Sophie Cookson) and her role in a “scripted reality” TV show. The film is also jammed packed with British comedy talent (Shirley Henderson, Sarah Solemani, Asim Chaudhry and Tim Key just to name a few), who can all do a lot with a little.

Overall, the film is probably more “educational” than it is “entertaining”, but there’s just enough comedy to alleviate the crushing amorality of the main characters.