Money

(1990) Money DRAMA

Adapted from the novel by Paul-Loup Sulitzer that has son, Franck Cimballi (Eric Stoltz) once learning about his father's demise, only to find out that the inheritance his father is supposed to leave him with has already been embezzled by his father's friends.

Seen this one a long time ago on the late night cable television and was quite surprised that upon renting the VHS copy from my rental video store at the time, that the VHS copy was many minutes shorter and less effective than the version I saw from television which even had commercials throughout, but was completely uncut and unedited. Anyways, great musical score and quite catchy as well as the atmosphere and storytelling makes this one a winner. And by the way, I have no idea what version this DVD copy consist of, if there is ever was one.

Rich kid, raised parentless by a faceless trust fund, is unceremoniously tossed out into the world on reaching his majority. We are to believe that this raw kid, dead broke and in a foreign country, can make himself wealthy in a matter of days (and pick up the sweetest girl) then make himself a multi millionaire in a few weeks and find the men who robbed his daddy. (this much is on the video box). A certain suspension of disbelief is required to follow this plot line. It might not be so bad but for the films use of the odd European device of having an unseen announcer periodically tell you what is happening. "She gets up to leave. She is upset. He has the feeling this is the last time he will see her". I suppose the makers of film in europe feel they must make sure all the audience is following the plot. The viewer has the impression he/she is being spoon fed a story that is not at all deep to start with.

The movie is a success in that watching the screen, we are led to believe that a rapidly exchanged series of still images is seen by the human eye as people and things in motion. More than that, it is not.

This is a modern version of the Count of Monte Cristo, with interesting locations from the world's major centers of finance, probably set around 1973. Eric Stoltz delivers a good performance as always in this entertaining but neglected film which must have been "lost in distribution" because of its European origin. It is based on a novel by a French author, and not supposed to be a lesson in credibility. Like the Count of Monte Cristo, the film rises the interesting question about the difference between revenge and justice. It is both exciting, entertaining, thought-provoking and interesting. I will give it a rating of 9.