Peter Viney's Blog

2019 / 2020
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Screenplay by Michael Winterbottom
Additional material by Sean Gray

CAST
Steve Coogan – Sir Richard McCreadie
Jamie Blackley- young Richard McCreadie
David Mitchell – Nick, his biographer
Isla Fisher- Samantha, his first wife
Asa Butterfield – Finn, his son
Shirley Henderson – Margaret, his mother
Sophie Cookson- Lily
Sarah Solemani- Melanie, his PA
Manolis Emmanuel – Demetrious
Shanina Shaik- Naomi
Christopher de Choisy- Francois
Dinita Gohil- Amanda, an employee
Asim Chaudry – Frank, lion tamer
Miles Jupp – Chairman of select committee
Giannis Gryparis- Giannis, building foreman
Kareem Alkabbani- Kareem, Syrian refugee
Michael Simkins- Mona CEO
+
James Blunt, Stephen Fry, Pixie Lott, Fatboy Slim as themselves

Technically a 2019 film at festivals, but in practice it’s a February 2020 film, which means it was out just before the first lockdown, when many of us were already wary of crowded cinemas. It had a DVD release in June but I never saw a copy, what with not going to shops. It appeared on Sky in January 2021, and will be on Netflix.

It shares its title with Erich von Stroheim’s 1924 classic Greed, which was based on Frank Norris’s novel, McTeague. The original EIGHT hour cut was seen by just twelve people. Eleven said it was the greatest film ever made. The twelfth was studio boss, Irving Thalberg who cut it to two and a half hours, and had the leftovers destroyed.

I’m not the first to spot that a change of one letter moves it from GREED to GREEN. They claim it’s loosely based on Sir Philip Green, the Arcadia boss, who asset-stripped retailers, and paid vast dividends to his conveniently divorced wife who is domiciled in Monaco. Yes, Sir Philip Green who made a fortune selling clothing made at incredibly low cost in Asian sweatshops. This is the man who was arraigned before a Parliamentary select committee and described as ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism.’ This is the man who had a 50th birthday party in Cyprus with celebrity guests, dressed himself as the Emperor Nero, and had Rod Stewart employed as the party entertainment.

I believe we may have a different definition of ‘loosely based.’ Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan) does all of that, except his party is on Mykonos with a Gladiator themed plywood amphitheatre. Still dressed as Nero. He has the divorced wife who gets all the dividends, stays best friends, and smiles on his supermodel second ‘trophy wife.’ He takes over a department store chain. Many of his businesses fail after being stripped of assets.

To me, it’s closer to a comedy biopic with Steve Coogan as Sir Richard ‘Greedy’ McCreadie. The foul-mouthed Estauary voiced billionaire was educated at public school before leaving at sixteen to graduate from doing the three card trick ‘Find the Lady’ to running a retail empire. SIR RICHARD … ah, Sir Richard Branson too? Richard + Green? Richard Green was the actor who played Robin Hood on British TV … I’ll stop there.

This is high comedy with an underlying serious theme which is intertwined. How do you think cotton gets sown in the ground, grown, picked, spun into thread, woven into cloth, dyed, sewn into garments and transported 6000 miles to sell in your local Primark or George at Asda for £2 or £3? That’s the bottom end. Arcadia, along with Zara, H&M and the others is more about selling a blouse or a frock for £10. Our cheap clothes are built on human misery, and over the end credits they display the facts (some reviewers disliked this, likening it to an over didactic PowerPoint display.)

Coogan cannot be bettered at playing rich, brash egomaniacs. His Paul Raymond was a favourite. He’s surrounded by a marvellous cast.

David Mitchell plays Nick, the hapless biographer (it reminded me of the biographer in Robert Harris’ Ghost) and he is a doormat, willing to go to Sri Lanka, round up sweatshop workers to say ‘Happy birthday …’ to Sir Richard. He sees the seamiest side of Sir Richard’s empire but quietly gets on with the job.

Shirley Henderson is the tiny, aggressive Irish mother – we saw her in Girl From The North Country on stage. The PA is Sarah Solemani (from Him & Her), and the son, Finn, is Asa Butterfield (the lead in Sex Education). Sir Richard is quizzed by a Select Committee chairman played by Miles Jupp.

The plot allows flashbacks to Sir Richard’s youth (played by Jamie Blackley) which allows Shirley Henderson to play nearer her actual age. Then Nick gets us to see inside the sweatshops and to interview people who met Sir Richard’s hard dealings in the past (with flashbacks).

There are subplots. Finn nurses Oedipal thoughts, fancying the trophy wife and having dark thoughts about dad. Meanwhile daughter Lily (Sophie Cookson) is filming a scripted, rigged but apparently “Reality TV” film at the same time. The beach next to the party site has been occupied by Syrian refugees … another major subplot. When Sir Richard has them evicted, his A-list party guests pull out because of the negative publicity, and he has to rely on lookalikes … Kylie, Adele, Rod Stewart, Simon Cowell. One is George Michael who Sir Richard has to explain is dead. Sir Richard buys celebs like cotton blouses. When his first choices are £1 million, he finds Tom Jones is £350,000 … so let’s have two Tom Jones then.

The other subplots involve the building of the amphitheatre and the efforts of the lion tamer to get the lion to show some vigour, and Amanda (Dinita Gohil), another PA. She is Sri Lankan, and her mum worked in a sweatshop, and died as a result of being forced to work harder and harder for less and less. She will get her revenge. No plot spoilers.

Real life stars give videoed greetings … Colin Firth, Keira Knightley. Stephen Fry is employed to compere the party. Early on James Blunt is engaged to serenade Samantha from below a window – for £75,000 for one song. Steve Coogan is calling in the friends and favours here.

It is very funny. I loved it. One of the guests hoping to make it to the party is Keith Richards. He finally stumbles in at the end apologising for lateness, and Melanie rushes past him with ‘Fuck off, Keith.’

On the serious theme, they miss out one MAJOR issue. What happened to the pension funds when major retailers were bought, asset stripped and discarded? That’s a major accusation about Philip Green, just as it was about Robert Maxwell.

The soundtrack is excellent, with some of the string orchestra work sounding like Max Richter. ABBA’s Money, Money, Money appears almost in full and appropriately. You can’t go far wrong with ABBA on a soundtrack.