“Money Monster” director Jodie Foster uses her money in this slick tragi/comedy about stocks and bonds by spending it on her star cast. Star George Clooney who, in real life, knows all about how to use money, plays Lee Gates, a Jim Kramer cutout who has a splashy, garish daily hour show: Money Monster!

While the real Jim Kramer on his CNBC show “Mad Money” works the small screen solo in rolled-up shirt sleeves, Lee Gates gives his viewers a rock and roll comedy hour with costumes, banners, dancing girls and music. Our Lee is not all that bright, just a hustler with good teeth, great hair and a gift of gab. Clooney works very hard to bring him to life, but only in the end does he come close.

The rest of Foster’s cash goes to Clooney’s co-star, and just when we were wondering what ever happened to Julia Roberts, there she is playing Lee’s studio producer Patty Fenn and doing a nice job of it. Her Patty is a laid back, suffering professional with unruly hair and little makeup who is trying to stay in love with a self-absorbed egomaniac showman. Roberts has little to do but sit at the control panel and hope for the best. That’s hard to do, and Roberts pulls it off.

Then right in the middle of one of Gates’ shows, life happens. Enter Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell, “Unbroken”) a young working-class loser with a pregnant girlfriend, who lost his mother’s inheritance on a Gates’ tip about a hot company helmed by CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West, “The Affair”).

Despite Lee’s excitement about the stock, it went bad and tanked with $80 million of investors’ cash swirling down the drain. Or did it? Hang on to that.

Kyle doesn’t expect to get his money back. He just wants an explanation and apology … then he’s going to blow Lee and the place up anyway.

For a long time, the tension and thrills are kept in house. Producer Patty in her control room at the moment Kyle arrives on the scene quickly gets on the switches and orders everyone out of the house and shuts down. But Kyle orders Patty to throw a switch and go viral, and soon everyone in the world is watching from Wall Street to Tokyo, including a Japanese techie who plays an important part. Stay on his face.

This whole plot, penned by Jamie Linden, Jim Kouf and Alan DiFiore, starts kicking up, while outside the entire NYPD is filling the building with snipers and the streets with massive armament. London, Paris and Chappaqua are watching, while the key player, CEO Camby, is circling the city in his helicopter. We soon learn that Mr. Camby has a secret we all need to learn.

“Money Monster” is billed as a nail biter, one of those complete with a crazy guy armed with bomb and gun who will take down a building, a scenario that these days is frighteningly real.

But when the hostages are Clooney and Julia Roberts, the thrill is gone before it starts. I mean, who’s going to shoot George Clooney? Really?

Then Jack O’Connell, who was so good in “Unbroken,” does something unexpected. O’Connell leans over Clooney with the gun at the star’s head, saliva running down his chin, sweating, red-faced and with eyes full of tears and gun hand shaking. We can’t look at anyone else. We are tempted in those precious moments to wonder: How is this really going to end? Those moments are few and short, but O’Connell makes us wonder. That’s an actor.

J.P. Devine is a former stage and screen actor and the author of “Will Write For Food.”

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