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It’s neverclearifGreed, thestoryoftheriseandfallofan
Englishfast-fashionbillionaire,is intendedassatireormoral
parable.It’scertainlygotsomesuperbcomedicactors:Steve
Cooganplaysarch-capitalistSirRichardMcCreadie;Isla
Fisherplayshis(amicablyseparated)ex-wife,Samantha;
and DavidMitchell,bestknownastheco-staroftheBritish
seriesPeepShow, playsNick,a hackMcCreadiehasenlisted
to writehisbiography.
The setup for a sendup is there, too. The movie
opensasMcCreadieandhisentouragepreparea Roman
bacchanal-themedbirthdaypartyontheGreekislandof
Mykonos:There’sharriedstaff,a cal-
lousattempttoremovesomeSyrian
refugeescampedona publicbeach
(“They’rerefugees—theycanfindref-
uge somewherethatisn’tsmackbang
in themiddleofourf---ingview”),
and aplywood Romanamphithe-
ater that’sintendedforsomesortof
gladiatorialperformancewitha live
lion. Loomingovertheproceedings
is a recentparliamentaryinquiryinto
McCreadie’sbusinessthat’starnished
his reputation.
Whatcouldgowrong?
Tofindout,viewershavetowaitwhilethemovie,directed
by MichaelWinterbottomandrunninga quick 104 minutes,
lavishestimeonitsostensiblevillain’soriginstory.Afterbeing
removedfroma poshpublicschool,thehardworkingyoung
McCreadie,playedbyJamieBlackley,crisscrossestheglobe
as he foundsa seriesofclothingcompanieswhoseprofitsare
built oncheaplabor.
McCreadievisitsseveralSriLankansweatshops,pitting
one owneragainstanotheruntilhesqueezesoutthebestdeal
possible.“Ifthepricegoesdown,thefactorystillhastomake
money,”explainsthedaughterofonesuchworker.“Sowhat
happens?Theworkershavetoworkfaster.”
GraduallywelearnthatMcCreadie,thoughfabulously
rich, hasnotbeenfabulouslysuccessful;instead,hismodus
operandiis tostartoracquirea company,saddleit withdebt, PHOTOGRAPHBYAMELIATROUBRIDGE/COURTESYSONYPICTURESCLASSICSCRITIC BloombergPursuits March 2, 2020extractasmuchmoneyashecanfromtheoperation,and
thenletit gobankrupt.
There’sa reasonthecharactersoundslikesomeone
you’veheardof.Accordingtothefilmmakers,McCreadie
wasinspiredbyPhilipGreen,thebillionairewhoover-
sawthecollapseoffashionretailerBHS.(Greenowned
BHSfor 15 years,thensoldit for£1theyearbeforeit went
under;11,000peoplelosttheirjobs.)ButMcCreadie’splay-
bookcouldbetakendirectlyfromanyoneofdozensofpri-
vateequityfirmsthathavesubjectedcompaniesincluding
ToysR Us,FairwayMarket,andClaire’sStorestoa corpo-
ratepillaging.
Coogan,whooftenappearsinflashbacksinfrontofthe
parliamentarycommitteewearinga powersuitandfake
teeth,is unnervinglygoodathumanizingwhatcouldbea two-
dimensionalcharacter:He’snota badperson,hearguesto
thecommittee,he’sjustdoingwellina systemthat’sdesigned
topunishthemanyforthebenefitofthefew.“IpaywhatI
haveto[intaxes]andnomore,becauseI’mnotstupid,”he
says.“Ifyouwanttochasepeopleavoidingtax,whydon’t
yougoafterthebigboys?LookatApple,lookatAmazon,
Starbucks.Whyareyouchasingme?”
Andwhere,throughoutallofthis,arethelaughs?It’san
increasinglyunanswerablequestionasthemoviestuttersto
a close.Thedangerofalltheseflashbacks,it turnsout,is that
theydrainanynarrativemomentum.Alltheairhasleftthe
filmwellbeforeMcCreadie’sbirthday
partyspiralsjoylesslyoutofcontrol
andendsingruesomefashion.
Withoutthehumor,we’releftto
reckonwithGreed’s victims—the refu-
gees tricked into working as handymen
at the party, his hapless employees,
the women in his sweatshops. We
watch one such laborer, who hap-
pens to be the mother of a member
of McCreadie’s entourage, as she falls
ill, gets fired, and then dies in a horri-
ble accident. Because the film toggles
unsteadily between these people’s suffering and McCreadie’s
theatrics, neither manages to make an impact.
To be fair, Greed always faced an uphill battle. Wealth porn
has so completely replaced real pornography in contempo-
rary cinema that it’s difficult for a filmmaker to linger on the
yachts, planes, and mansions of the very rich and still expect
audiences to get offended. Indeed, cannier directors than
Winterbottom have tried to turn viewers against excess and
failed. In 1987, Oliver Stone made Wall Street as a scathing
indictment of the financial industry and ended up deliver-
ing an infomercial for Goldman Sachs.
More than 30 years later, greed is still good, at least from
the perspective of people trying to sell films, and maybe
that’s the takeaway of Greed, too. “It must be costing a for-
tune,” McCreadie’s mother says of his birthday party. “It is,”
McCreadie replies. “And that’s the point.” <BW>Anewmovietakesaimat
the .001% and hits the poor
instead. By James TarmyGreed Is ...
Not Good
Coogan as
McCreadie