A small is rocked to its core when one of the wealthiest residents is found murdered – but the death isn’t what anyone thinks. Just when you think you have Greedy People, the new release from Lionsgate figured out, the movie twists and turns everything on its head again.
When a new cop Will (Himesh Patel) moves to the small town of Providence, SC, he’s immediately put at odds with his rogue partner Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The two couldn’t be any more poorly matched, and while Will just wants to do a good job and be the family man, Terry takes every advantage he can with his position of authority. But when things go wrong on Will’s first day, the two are forced together as partners in a plot to try to make both of their lives better. Will’s once hard-set morals are pushed to the limits, and Terry doubles down on his corruption.
Greedy People sets itself up so that the viewer doesn’t have to take it seriously. Instead, you go in instantly knowing that the movie is just this side of ridiculous. And even when the movie seems to try to be serious, there’s a bit of humor to it. The first hint of this is the introduction of Terry, one of the most over-the-top bro-dude cop characters since Jason Stackhouse (True Blood). But the most jarring part of the character is he’s being played by Gordon-Levitt. A character so against the type audiences have seen him as in previous roles, but he’s not an actor you’d immediately equate with this character type. But, it works. Not just sort of works, but it really works. After a couple of minutes, and letting your brain readjust to who is playing the character, you forget all of those previous notions and embrace the ridiculousness that is Terry.
The movie doesn’t have double crosses, the story crosses itself so many times it’s almost hard to keep track. But along the way, it rarely lags in things to keep you interested. Just how deep and dark the story goes doesn’t actually hit until the third act of the film and it may make you gasp. The murder isn’t as it seems, the characters aren’t who they present themselves as, and it may make you look at small towns just a little differently.
Greedy People isn’t a movie for all audiences, but with a murder at the center of it that should be obvious. Add in sexual content, swearing and quite a bit of violence, this dark comedy is only for the more mature crowd. Greedy People is in theaters everywhere this weekend.
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About Greedy People
In this darkly comedic crime thriller, rookie cop Will (Himesh Patel) and his rogue partner Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) upend their small island town when they accidentally discover one million dollars at a crime scene (of their own making). After the duo unwisely decides to steal the money, the community’s quirky residents are lured into the mad dash for cash — ranging from an expectant mom (Lily James) to a masseur (Simon Rex) to a shrimp company owner (Tim Blake Nelson) — and everyone learns just how far they are willing to go for the almighty dollar.