Good People

[yoco]

Release Date: July 25, 2014 (limited)
Studio: Millennium Entertainment
Director: Henrik Ruben Genz
Screenwriter: Kelly Masterson
Starring: James Franco, Kate Hudson, Omar Sy, Tom Wilkinson
Genre: Crime, Drama

Young American couple Tom and Anna Reed (James Franco and Kate Hudson) fall into severe debt while renovating Anna's family home in London. As the couple faces the loss of their dream to have a house and start a family, they discover that the tenant in the apartment below them has been murdered and he left behind a stash of cash—$400,000 worth. Though initially hesitant, Tom and Anna decide that the plan is simple: all they have to do is quietly take the money and use only what's necessary to get them out of debt. But when they start spending the money and can't seem to stop, they find themselves the target of a deadly adversary—the thief who stole it—and that's when very bad things start happening to good people.

[SealLion]

Most obviously you can tell this film is about money. One might say that the root of evil or bad things is money.
I disagree. I would definitely agree that the pursuit of money can be damaging.
Damaging to one's spiritual sense and to others as well. However, that damage has other effects and variations too.
Here in this film you can see that the couple's greed, or need, or desire to rid themselves of mounting debt, is pursued by another man's greed. The damaging effects of the pursuit of money can even be applied to conglomerates, large national companies, and multinationals even. And of course, the effects here to are varied. This can range all the way from conglomerate nonchalance to, lets say damaging some aspect of the environment to, lets say, relocating whole towns, villages, and/or tribes of people like what many Western and some Asian corporations do to gain a profit at mining perhaps.
But how that greed for the pursuit of money, whether it's personal gain or corporate gain, is handled is probably at the center point of how damaging that pursuit can be. In this film, that damaging effect just happens to be threats to one's safety.

[cirulilu]

"The lack of money is the root of all evil"
-Mark Twain

[SealLion]

Sorry, but just because Mark Twain or for that matter anyone in history who either wrote books or did something noteworthy and made some statement of some type doesn't mean that person is or was correct.
If a person, who is lacking money (for what-ever reason), then it is logical to assume that they will or may want to pursue money in order to manage their monetary or financial considerations or problems. Lacking money just means that you don't have enough of what you want. Pursuing money and depending if any covert or ulterior motives exist, can and could mean you might pursue motions or actions to gain what you want (in this case money) with the possible inclusion that your actions could harm others. And that could mean that the interested party could disregard the level of harm, injury, or damage sustained by any secondary parties while pursuing those intentions. Hence, the pursuit is actually the cause (or root) of evil/bad things. And I would further specify that is probably more relevant only when money is involved. It wouldn't necessarily be relevant to all things existing.
Pursuit is the idea which ends with an action. Lack thereof (money) is the actual condition. An actual condition does not necessarily have to contribute to the motion. That motion is pursuit.
Mark Twain probably didn't think critically when he made his statement you kindly posted above. He missed the second step.

[slikrapid]

@article:

an interesting definition of 'good people' we have here:

fall into severe debt while renovating Anna's family home in London

severe ignorance or severely bad decisions...good people?

As the couple faces the loss of their dream to have a house and start a family

what? they wouldn't be the first couple that had to 'start from scratch' - giving up easily or acting like victims...good people?

discover that the tenant in the apartment below them has been murdered and he left behind a stash of cash—$400,000 worth.

really? and the cash was just lying around in plain sight - snooping around someone's apartment, a recently murdered someone no less...good people?

all they have to do is quietly take the money and use only what's necessary to get them out of debt.

the end justifies the means? stealing other people's property...good people?

when they start spending the money and can't seem to stop

more bad decisions/choices...overindulgence or lack of self-control...good people?

and that's when very bad things start happening to good people.

only then, huh? sounds like a good joke considering the comments above (not to mention scriptwriters stretching believability to get there)

I would definitely agree that the pursuit of money can be damaging.
...the pursuit is actually the cause (or root) of evil/bad things.
...that is probably more relevant only when money is involved. It wouldn't necessarily be relevant to all things existing.

i'd go with this one: an excessive pursuit of money or other materialistic objects/items/things is undoubtedly damaging: time (wasted on the prolonged pursuit), obsession (over things of lesser importance), consequences (future/karma/cause-effect), spirituality (tainted/burdened/obstructed, reflecting one's choices)
however, we do live in a materialistic society, thus a certain effort necessarily has to go towards goals like 'pursuit of money', the key is moderation (as opposed to excess), intelligence (the way you handle it, validity of your logic/actions), perspective (keep things in perspective, a clear mind) and the like

The damaging effects of the pursuit of money can even be applied to conglomerates, large national companies, and multinationals even.

indeed, the corporations are actually designed for maximizing this pursuit, it is a common goal, regardless of what their original area/field of activity may be - due to their size/reach/power/influence, the (potential) damaging effects are likewise significant/sizable

"The lack of money is the root of all evil"
-Mark Twain

twain was probably trying to be funny and catchy at the same time, but incorrect nevertheless

'the lack of money is the 'root' of many attempts at acquiring (more) money' - is this act of acquiring automatically evil? obviously not (in a materialistic society it is a necessity), furthermore would you say that the extremely poor (extreme lack of money) are much more evil than extremely rich'? might be the other way around - how about if money was eliminated from the equation (everyone has enough of it or money is not even used anymore), would all evil cease to exist or would it simply shift towards the next suitable candidate/object to blame as the new root of all evil (example: got all the money you need, but 'can't get no satisfaction')