It Shouldn’t Be So Hard to Make a Comedy About Despicable Billionaires
Even though Greed stars a cast of brilliant comics, the jokes fail to land.
Steve Coogan as Richard McCreadie in Greed.
Photographer: Amelia Troubridge, courtesy Sony Pictures Classics
It’s never clear if Greed, the story of the rise and fall of an English fast-fashion billionaire, is intended as satire or moral parable. It’s certainly got some superb comedic actors: Steve Coogan plays arch-capitalist Sir Richard McCreadie; Isla Fisher plays his (amicably separated) ex-wife, Samantha; and David Mitchell, best known as the co-star of the British series Peep Show, plays Nick, a hack McCreadie has enlisted to write his biography.
The setup for a sendup is there, too. The movie, which will hit theaters on Feb. 28, opens as McCreadie and his entourage prepare a Roman bacchanal-themed birthday party on the Greek island of Mykonos: There’s harried staff, a callous attempt to remove some Syrian refugees camped on a public beach (“They’re refugees—they can find refuge somewhere that isn’t smack bang in the middle of our f---ing view”), and a plywood Roman amphitheater that’s intended for some sort of gladiatorial performance with a live lion. Looming over the proceedings is a recent parliamentary inquiry into McCreadie’s business that’s tarnished his reputation.