La surprise

I'm sure this film is no longer considered politically correct since it involves a scene where a prostitute shows pre-teen boys her breasts, but it has a lot of cute moments and Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris have great chemistry. It made me smile more than I'd like to admit and I suppose that counts for something.

Milk Money (1994)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A group of young boys save up their "milk" money so that they can buy a father (Ed Harris) a hooker known as V (Melanie Griffith).

There's a bit more to the plot of MILK MONEY but that's the basic set-up. After the success of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... these types of romantic comedies were in high demand so we got all sorts of strange stories and this here is certainly one of the strangest.

Once you get over the idea of young kids buying a hooker for dad, the film itself really isn't all that bad and in many ways it's pretty charming for what it is. You've basically got two fine actors turning in fun performances and that's what makes the film worth watching. Harris is especially good as the father who is still grieving over his wife. Griffith easily steals the film as the hooker with a heart of gold as well as a great body that is constantly in tight clothes.

The film's screenplay has a pretty basic set-up and it pretty much plays out as you would expect it to. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here and it's not one of the best films that the genre has to offer but if you're a fan of the cast then it's worth watching.

Very conservative people might not like the plot of this film (kid tries to get his widowed dad and an ex-hooker to fall in love with each other), but actually everything is quite harmless and fun.

The story gets sometimes a bit silly (especially when the boy takes Melanie Griffith to school as part of his "science project"), but the acting and the comedy is good. There was always a smile on my lips as I watched the misunderstandings between Harris and Griffith, when the dad believes that she is a math tutor and the hooker believes he knows her true job.

Ed Harris does a good job as the shy father, and Melanie Griffith is believable as the golden hearted hooker. But it's the kid (Michael Patrick Carter) the one who steals the show, with his winning smile and his mixture of innocence and curiosity.

In some cases I'd say this is better then Pretty Woman. I say "some" with weight because Pretty Woman is a classic. But Milk Money fills that "hole" you had watching pretty woman. Ed Harris's character is sincere and attentive which matches Melanie's softness (which at the best of times can spoil her on screen performances) perfectly. It's a classic boy meets girl movie with that dash of "damsel in distress but is now hardened and tough due to life being so rough and who now finally meets a man who breaks through it all and understands and loves her for who she is" - as far as romantic comedies go- it was better then I thought it would be and even gets the heart strings welling when Ed Harris tells her "this could hurt"...The story itself can be at times almost childish, but in the end that's part of it's charm.

In the Ohio suburb of Middleton three boys gather their 'milk money' so they go to the nearby city, Cincinnati, and see a prostitute naked. One of the boys, Frank (Michael Patrick Carter), befriends the woman (Melanie Griffith) and wants her to meet his single dad (Ed Harris), a teacher who's trying to save the nearby wetlands. Malcolm McDowell is on hand as a heavy while Anne Heche appears as a kept woman in the city.

"Milk Money" (1994) is a modern day fairy tale that's part pubescent coming-of-age dramedy and part romantic-comedy. Critics reviled it, obviously because the subject matter made it an easy target but it has a lot of heart once you look beyond the prostitution component. For instance, Frank really just wants a caring mother, as well as a wife for his lonely, workaholic father who needs a good woman to rock his mundane world. The question is, can a call girl possibly be a 'good woman'? In other words, is there redemption for a soiled sex worker and what is the key to that redemption? Not only is love the answer it's also the element necessary for bringing out submerged love in the one being redeemed.

There's also a lesson about objectifying a woman. The boys only see the prostitute as an object to appease their curiosity and blossoming lust, but soon discover she's a human being with feelings and value beyond her body. Even more, the woman clearly wants OUT of the empty, repugnant lifestyle she fell into since she was 14; she craves love, wholesomeness and respect. Say what you will, but these are some heavy morals for a farce about some boys wanting to become men, a nice father concerned about the condemned wetlands and a pretty sex worker.

The film runs 1 hour, 47 minutes, and was shot in Cincinnati, Ohio, including the Wheeler house and the school, while the ice cream parlor & town scenes were done in Lebanon, about a 20 minute drive northeast of the city. Some shots were also done in Pittsburgh.

GRADE: B-