Who doesn’t love a cop-comedy-crime-drama-whodunit-thriller-mystery movie? A lot is happening in Greedy People, and the film only lives in extremes: VERY lighthearted or VERY bizarre.
Will (Himesh Patel) is the new cop in the sleepy island town of Providence. On his first day on the job, he shadows Officer Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Part of their ‘duties’ is getting free coffee and doughnuts (donuts?), and Will must keep watch as Terry has fun with a local married woman.
The film starts out funny and weird, highlighting small-town clichés and typical cop-comedy traits—all until Will is involved in the murder of the town’s richest woman! Of course, the pair cover their tracks (plus steal $1 million) and take charge of investigating the murder.
As the name of the movie suggests, everyone is greedy, everyone in some way sucks. The two officers’ relationship starts to deteriorate after Will confides in his wife about the murder, and Terry’s distrust rises.
Through Will’s wife, Paige (Lily James), audiences get a taste of what the movie is trying to ‘teach us’. Avarice comes in many forms, under the cover of good intentions. Each character wants a good life but will kill or frame others to make it a reality. They all fall victim to greed, and the movie does not hesitate to kill off every person involved.
I have to give a round of applause to Gordan-Levitt, whose performance was stellar! Seeing Terry mutate from an easy-going small-town cop to a livid creature hellbent on revenge, left me confused and shocked until the end! Overall Greedy People is a fairly enjoyable movie.
However, this movie felt like it was trying to do everything, yet delivered an underwhelming experience. At some points, Greedy People feels like a diluted cop comedy. Then it turns into a psychological thriller, then a murder mystery, and then into a bizarre drama. And because it touches on all these genres, it felt like the movie struggled to make a real impact.
You never get to fully connect with any of the characters. So much so that when they’re all killed, you don’t know how else to feel but to just accept that this was the movie they made. Sometimes too much of a good thing is bad (which is essentially the moral of the film).
Big shoutout to screenwriter Mike Vukadinovich and director Potsy Ponciroli for their hard work and dedication.
Greedy People was fun, no doubt about that. But I cannot recommend watching it in the cinema. This type of movie is better suited for at-home viewing on a Friday night – with many snacks – in bed, after a long day at work.
GirlOnTheBus 