Greed, Revenge, and Deception: The 9 Best Movies about Money

Every movie has a theme. Perhaps it’s love (most of them are) or lust, or good vs. evil, or perhaps it’s just a movie about death. Of all the topics that the Silver Screen has covered, there might be no other topic covered as well, or across as wide array of genres as money. Money is known as the root of all evil, and in the case of the Silver Screen, it has served as the root for some of Hollywood’s best and most entertaining films. Here is the list of the 9 Best Movies about Money.

1. Wall Street

YEAR: 1987

MORAL: Bankrupting your father is hard to put on a Father’s Day card, so avoid it.

Well before Shia Lebouf was being wooed by Gordon Gecko, Charlie Sheen was being sucked into the mentality that greed is good. He got sucked in so far that he almost agreed to allow Gecko to buy out Blue Star Airlines and personally run his father (played by Martin Sheen) into the poor house. It’s the classic father/son conflict: father teaches son good values, son grows up and forgets everything because he really wants Daryl Hannah to sleep with him; son almost bankrupts Dad, and in the end puts his mentor in jail.

2. Trading Places

YEAR: 1983

MORAL: You should appreciate everything you have, because in an instant it could be gone, and you’ll end up impersonating a Jamaican on a commuter train.

Welcome to the era when Eddie Murphy made funny movies. Welcome to the era when Dan Akroyd made funny movies, too. Here we have Murphy, a homeless black guy just trying to survive. Then we have Dan Akroyd who is as wealthy and blessed as can be….that is until two crotchety old guys decide to take away everything from Akroyd and give it to Murphy. Why? Because Randolph believes they can take a common criminal and make him successful. All Akroyd is left with is a hooker and enough anger to plan the biggest revenge plot of our lifetimes.

3. Boiler Room

YEAR: 2000

MORAL: Robbing middle class people is no fun, not even for Vin Diesel.

After Wall Street came Boiler Room. Giovanni Ribisi is a local hustler and con man asked to learn the business of big stocks. He is reluctant, but then goes for it and finds that selling stocks is a bigger con job than running illegal casinos out of his basement is. He becomes a quick student and does what any self respecting trader would do: he cons a gentle family man out of his entire life savings.

4. Jerry Maguire

YEAR: 1996

MORAL: It isn’t how much you make at work, but rather what you get out of it personally. It also taught us that Renee Zellweger could be hot just one time

Being a sports agent had its ups and downs for Jerry Maguire until he said “Less clients, more personal relationships.” The problem is that it translated to his bosses as “I want to do my job less and make less money but feel good about myself again.” Sports agents aren’t into feeling good about themselves, so they decimate Jerry’s whole business. He’s left with an overblown, under-the-radar star, a young and idealistic assistant, and a kid who knows the human head weighs 8 pounds.