'Greed' is not good — despite Steve Coogan as boorish billionaire

As a satire of wealth and social climbing, the movie “Greed” — which centers on the rise and fall of a crass English billionaire named Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan) — feels especially toothless when compared with the Oscar-winning “Parasite,” which not only looked at both sides of the haves/have-nots equation but did so in a far fresher way.

The latest movie from writer-director Michael Winterbottom (“The Wedding Guest”) has one thing going for it: Coogan. But the comedian's wryly clownish antics as the preening, not-especially bright owner of several fast-fashion stores are in service of a story that feels sloppy and overly broad.

That story jumps back and forth in time between “Greedy” McCreadie's school days and the buildup to the lavish, tasteless 60th birthday party he has decided to throw for himself on the Greek island of Mykonos. Described as “The Great Gatsby” meets “Gladiator” meets “The Godfather,” the party will feature a plywood Roman Coliseum and an actual lion, the mere appearance of which heavily foreshadows an unpleasant denouement. Tragedy of some kind is also hinted at heavily in the film's opening prologue, which takes place in the aftermath of the party and then flashes back to the events leading up it.

Those events are seen through the eyes of Nick (David Mitchell), a writer who is gathering material for an authorized biography of Richard by interviewing such people as his ex-wife (Isla Fisher). “When I first met Rich, he was a bottom-feeder,” she tells Nick. “What changed?” he asks.

The answer, as we learn, is very little, other than money. Richard spends much of the film sporting a set of blindingly white fake teeth, and treating everyone he encounters with some measure of abuse. “Greed” is simply a short wait until the inevitable comeuppance we all wish for is delivered upon its richly deserving subject.

During that wait, there are some pleasures to be had, as dished out by Coogan, who tears into his role with a parodistic energy that is diverting if less than insightful. The bromide that too much money, and the love of it, is bad — especially when found in the possession of a person as narcissistic, impulsive, bullying and untrustworthy as Richard — seems to be the film's only message.

If the above description reminds you in any way of anyone else, living or fictional, it may be purely coincidental. If “Greed” lacks anything, it is the sting of specificity. Other than a subplot about Syrian refugees whose encampment on the Mykonos beach threatens to mar Richard's party, the movie feels as if it could have been made anytime in the past 30 years — and would still have been no funnier.