Review: ‘Greedy People’ Gathers a Solid Ensemble for Some Entertaining Criminal Fun

Sometimes a crime is cut-and-dry, and it doesn’t take much effort to figure out who did it and what motivated them. But there are other cases where there are simply too many factors and coincidences for any one explanation to make sense, and that’s particularly true when a film script is involved. Greedy People is a dark comedy about the unfortunate and unexpected consequences of ill-conceived actions, with questionable morals and ideas but a good sense of what will be entertaining to anyone watching.

On his first day on the job as a police officer in a small town, Will (Himesh Patel) gets some helpful advice from his enthusiastic new partner, Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt): don’t kill anyone unless you really have to. The reasoning is that it ends up being messy, but Terry’s reckless demeanor, which involves a stop at his married girlfriend’s home during a shift, puts Will in precisely the kind of situation he shouldn’t have to face alone. With a woman dead and a pile of cash ripe for the taking, Will finds his idyllic life upended as he struggles to maintain his composure and get away with a crime he never planned on committing.

Greedy People boasts a wealth of talent assembled for a screwball comedy of sorts that feels set to fly way under the radar. Three-time Emmy winner Uzo Aduba is the chief of police going through her own grief. Lily James is Will’s pregnant wife who immediately distrusts Terry even before meeting him. Tim Blake Nelson is the husband of the dead woman, and Simon Rex is the masseur who may or may not have seen her moments before she died, while Nina Arianda and Jim Gaffigan are also tangled up in that storyline with their own ulterior motives. It’s a stacked cast that can’t possibly all be put to the most productive use in a film that only runs ninety minutes.

Pairing Patel and Gordon-Levitt is a bold choice since both are often known for their understated turns, particularly Patel with his Emmy-nominated performance in the limited series Station Eleven. Gordon-Levitt has at times portrayed louder, more brazen protagonists, like in his directorial debut Don Jon, but here he’s laying the excess on thick, with Terry not even pretending to be a good cop, using the job fully to his own personal advantage. While Will makes simple mistakes that add up quickly, he still shouldn’t have much trouble earning the sympathy of audiences given how detestable his partner is.

Yet as this film’s title indicates, there isn’t really anyone to root for since everyone is motivated by self-preservation. While Terry swears Will to secrecy, he still tells his wife what happens, but conveniently assigns Terry the blame for pulling the trigger even though he wasn’t even present when it happened. Everyone is looking out for themselves, which may be true to life but also cements this film as a comedy since its antics are increasingly more ridiculous and over-the-top, skewing plans entirely when a new player arrives every few minutes to completely shake up the game.

Greedy People, from director Potsy Ponciroli, who previously teamed with Nelson for an extremely different film, Old Henry, benefits from clever construction, which peels back layers of the increasingly-complicated story one character at a time. Audiences may think they know what’s going on but will be constantly surprised, even if the twists aren’t groundbreaking in their conception. There’s still a clear creativity to how it all unfurls, and the degrees of complexity involved feel appropriate for the length of the film, allowing for just enough intrigue and resolution without making it all overstuffed.

Movie Rating: 7/10

Awards Buzz: Though it contains so many awards-friendly names in its cast, this film isn’t likely to be remembered by year’s end. Its late August release feels appropriate for an end-of-summer comedy that won’t pick up any prizes a few months later.