Roush Review: You Don’t Have to Like the Jerks of ‘Black Monday’ to Enjoy Them
Review
We’ve all heard the rich are different, but do they always have to be so hateful? If you’re missing the scoundrels of Billions and the only-happy-when-scheming family of Succession, then suit up for the retro raunch of Black Monday.
An old-school Showtime logo zips us back to an era of freewheeling mid-1980s excess — drugs, sexism, macho gamesmanship — for a broadly satirical and speculative countdown to the day of Wall Street’s worst plunge (October 19, 1987).
No one knows what caused the crash, but all signs point to Mo Monroe, a proud peacock of a high-stakes trader played by a poisonously giddy Don Cheadle.
This self-described “black Moses” snares straight-arrow MBA nerd Blair (Girls‘ Andrew Rannells) in his elaborate scheme to game the system.
Mo’s orbit includes a skeptic (Regina Hall, splendid as his invaluable colleague and conscience), a suck-up (Paul Scheer as a closeted coworker) and wacky adversaries (Ken Marino, hilarious in a dual role as twin “Leighman Brothers” financiers).
Thankfully, you don’t have to like these jerks to enjoy them.
Black Monday, Sundays, 10/9c, Showtime
