Greed

Michael Winterbottom's latest movie, "Greed," is a fast-paced satirical comedy about a story that in reality is far from funny. It's the very skimpily-veiled story of notorious Brit billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green, who the British Parliament named as "the unacceptable face of capitalism." Green used nefarious means to buy Topshop and half a dozen other retail labels�that turned the exploitation of developing-world workers into an empire of cheap discount fashion.�

Like the present U.S. president, many of the businesses Green owned crashed, leaving a wake of millions of pounds in debts and thousands of people unemployed after he had personally raided their assets, particularly well-stocked pension funds.

Winterbottom's script focuses on the farcical nature of the story and the setting is the extravagant 60th birthday celebrations of Sir Philip McCready (rhymes with greedy), played by a manic Steve Coogan.�He has taken over part of a Greek Island, where he has had a colosseum built on the beach for Roman gladiator games, complete with a real (and very bored) lion.

The story unfolds as, despite all the money thrown at it,�the party preparations are getting more out of control by the minute. Winterbottom intersperses this�with flashbacks of how a young and ruthless McCready screwed over everyone every step of the way in business to build his fortune. There is a sobering clip of how one of the over-crowded sweatshops he used in Pakistan caught fire, killing many of the workers – a story beat that reflects something that happened in real life.

His ex-wife (Isla Fisher) jets in on a launch with her latest beau; his doting mother (Shirley Henderson) is never far from his side; and his pretty-but-dim daughter (Sophie Cookson) is also there for the celebrations, and is being filmed for a cheesy reality show about her life. These are the only people in this scenario who dote on McCready and worship both him and his successes.�On the other hand, all the employees (including a very reluctant biographer) quietly grin and bear the billionaire's obnoxious and condescending behavior for the sake of their paychecks.

McCready is determined that nothing will get in the way of the party, and when his famous guests start to cancel after they have read of his latest business scandal in the tabloids, he tells his PR to hire some lookalikes to stand in.�One of the most hilarious scenes is when he inspects his new guests and questions the presence of a fake George Michael, as the singer had died a few years previously.

McCready also discovers that the public beach where he's holding this extravaganza is also occupied by some homeless Syrian refugees, who he cons into leaving in a move that will backfire before the night is over.�

Coogan is convincing as the thoroughly despicable man who chooses to be oblivious to the carnage he leaves in his wake, but it is Henderson, heavily made up way past her natural age, who is the scene stealer as the fierce mother who thinks her son can walk on water.

Is it wishful thinking on Winterbottom's part to tell this story of an obnoxious crook who is little known outside of the UK? Or will it just resound as another sad global tale of how low the businessmen at the top have really now sunk to the bottom?