The rich and privileged take a savage beating in Michael Winterbottom’s Greed. So, does this mean the rich are ranked up there with Nazi’s as universally hated villains? The brilliant Steven Coogan is the ultra-rich fashion mogul, Sir Richard McCreadie. As the rich often do (I suppose, not knowing anyone rich myself), when reduced to being mere global billionaires, one has to throw oneself a big bash birthday party. Greed follows the precarious birthday party production, along with flashbacks and asides to tell a more complete story of the man, McCreadie.
“…McCreadie’s birthday bash is a spare-no-expense extravaganza, but with a meager budget to hire cheap labor…”
First, the party. McCreadie’s birthday bash is a spare-no-expense extravaganza, but with a meager budget to hire cheap labor and fudge on safety, then set it on a beautiful, but expensive, Grecian beach in a Roman Colosseum (built by said cheap labor). The Coliseum will look like a Hollywood set and feature a real lion. The project is severely behind, and already, the local labor is complaining about being underpaid, overworked in unsafe working conditions.
Joining the party is Sir. Richard’s ex-wife Samantha (Isla Fisher) and his son Finn (Asa Butterfield), daughter Lily (Sophie Cookson), and his mother played hilariously by Shirley Henderson. Also supporting the fun is Sir. Richard’s biographer, Nick (David Mitchell), whose character in the film exists to present McCreadie’s backstory as an aggressive, business-savvy, hustler, who’s adept at talking people into taking a loss on a business deal, so he can make money. Lastly, there’s the good and virtuous Amanda (Dinita Gohil), who assists McCreadie, but is also conflicted in the way he treats everyone…specifically the poor.
"…does this mean the rich are ranked up there with Nazi’s as universally hated villains?"
