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I've got two movies that are political-thriller-drama kind of movies.
Gattaca (1997)
Uma Thurman pre-Bride and Ethan Hawke pre-stuck doing every Blumhouse movie star in a high-concept thriller about the human eugenics controversy. Gattaca takes place in the near future where "designer babies" are a social norm where parents can choose the most desirable traits of their unborn babies (athletic, tall, intelligent, etc.), and people with undesirable genetics are discriminated against. One man, Vincent, has dreams of space travel, but because of his inferior genetics, he is relegated to being the janitor at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. A chance of a lifetime comes his way when an employee at Gattaca offers to allow Vincent to assume his identity for a trip Titan. However, the murder of the mission director and a blooming romance with another employee threaten to reveal Vincent's true identity. Gattaca deftly blends its more dramatic moments with unique sci-fi thrills to give a smart little thriller. Although, because of its lofty ambitions and concept, the plot has to force some things to just work out so that it can keep moving forward. A couple of these instances could have been more thoroughly explained in a short scene since the running time isn't terribly long anyway. Another tiny issue is that the reveal of the murderer is pretty anticlimactic. With all the buildup, you'd expect a big surprise, but when it's revealed, it's quickly acknowledged and then forgotten about. The best thing about Gattaca, though, is its incredible writing. There's a lot of quotable lines that I'm sure have led to its status as a cult flick. Along with its ambitious ideas and engrossing plot, Gattaca is a taut, memorable cult sci-fi thriller.
7/10
Money Monster (2016)
Last year's The Big Short told the real-life story of the people that profited from the stock market crash in the late 2000's. It was funny, biting and just a little infuriating. Money Monster, on the other hand, goes for a simpler approach with a real-time hostage thriller. Money Monster stars George Clooney as financial TV host Lee Gates (an obvious riff on Jim Cramer from Mad Money) who is airing his latest edition of his show, you guessed it, Money Monster. Just 24 hours before, IBIS Global Capital's stock inexplicably crashed due to a glitch in a trading algorithm. A viewer of Gates' show, Kyle Budwell, loses all of his money due to a bad tip from Gates saying that IBIS' stock is "safer than your bank account." Halfway through Gates' show, Kyle gets onto the set and threatens Gates at gunpoint, forcing him to put on a bomb vest. Kyle wants answers, and if he doesn't get them, he'll blow up Gates before killing himself. Julia Roberts also stars as the show's director who attempts to get everyone out of the bomb threat from behind the scenes. Money Monster conjures up some great thrills from a reliably game cast, especially Jack O'Connell who plays 99%'er Kyle. There's also quite a bit of dark humor to give the more intense parts some edge while still not detracting from the movie's tone. It's a simple, timely and contained thriller that should give adults some respite from the myriad of PG-13 fare that is in the theaters so often.
8/10
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