Mad Money

While I really love Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah, I was not particularly excited about Mad Money. It looked really mediocre, and though I was expecting to be entertained, I was not expecting it to be as fun and interesting as it ended up being. It is a really underrated and funny movie that is an all around great time from beginning to end that I am glad I had the chance of seeing.

While the movie is not exceedingly hilarious, it has it's shining moments of brilliance from the wonderful cast. All the actors and actresses pull off the characters perfectly, giving the film a lovable and bubbly atmosphere. It's extremely interesting too. I could never look away, because I was so interested in the plot; they set everything up really well and the movie was nicely paced with some fun and surprising twists and turns that keep the viewer on edge.

Like I said, easily the best thing about this movie is it's performances which ultimately make the only decent movie otherwise more than decent and highly rewatchable, and the cast pull off the material that could be seen as poor amazingly and overall make the movie worth the while. I enjoyed it highly, and like I said, I wish more people would see it and not be so critical on it. It is entertainment at it's most charming, even if it is not a masterpiece.

An Oscar winning actress (Keaton), an Oscar nominated actress (Latifah), and the current spouse of an Oscar nominated actor (Holmes) shine in this delightful comedy/crime film as three employees of a federal reserve who plot to steal a large sum of disposable cash. This is a simple movie, nothing more nothing less. It offers inconsistent and infrequent laughs, while providing a thrill to the audience. Though I am not familiar with director Callie Khouri who apparently won an Oscar, the cast of this movie was compelling, from Diane Keaton to Ted Danson, from Katie Holmes to Queen Latifah. A renowned cast saved this film from being a total disaster with a witty and fitting performance. As far as the content of the movie It is nothing more than what a regular movie goer might expect it to be. A heist gone bad, but with no blood and violence....Just plain comedy. However, this is an unusual idea for a movie, because I am sure it would not be attempted in real life, and even if it is, I am positive that the schemers will not get that far.. A nice and enjoyable film worth seeing.

I was expecting to start watching this movie then switch it off. Yes my expectations were low. However this little movie was great, not great art but a great pleasure to watch. I am no fan of any of the three leading actresses but they made this a joy to watch. Ted Danson (who I could never warm to in Cheers) impresses me with his timing and (in Damages) his acting talent. The story is simply told and is absorbing, entertaining and (unusually for a modern comedy) funny. Not uproariously but it made me smile on many occasions. The viewer cares about the characters and what happens to them and that is a testament to the writing and direction. It is not the best comedy I have ever seen nor the best heist movie but the sum is greater than the parts. Keaton was very good and Queen Latifah was terrific support. I recommend this for a pleasant way to pass an hour or so.

Gabrielle Burton's Manna from Heaven (2002) is a cloying bit of larceny about old folks who pull a heist, so to speak. As bad as that allegedly funny comic caper is, Callie Khouri directs a caper headed by old folk Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) that makes Manna look smart. Mad Money, about three chicks who rip off the Federal Reserve, is a bankrupt comedy for which there was not a laugh for over an hour, and that's with an audience at a sneak preview, one of the easier groups to please.

Diane Keaton shows no comedic skills beyond the lines Woody Allen has given her in previous movies long ago; Queen Latifa as single mama Nina Brewster has no range beyond the broad beam of her smile and her bod; Katie Holmes as daffy Jackie Truman is a much more successful wife of Tom Cruise. The only one with half-way funny lines is Ted Danson as Don Cardigan, but his perfect white-haired, brush-cut hairpiece distracts from his delivery.

Mad Money appears in early January, an infamous graveyard for films studios know flat-out won't be successful but distribute to satisfy investors and actors that the film actually played theaters. I hope this film makes them money across the seas because stateside it would take a serious heist to make any money for this felonious assault on even the notoriously easy American audience.

Directed by Callie Khouri (best known for writing the famous Ridely Scott film "Thelma & Louise"), Mad Money tells the story of three women working at the Kansas Federal Reserve Bank (though the movie was shot in Louisiana) who work out a system to steal money that is about to be shredded. Obviously, stuff happens.

Mad Money is far from being the best heist film out there. Recent efforts such as After The Sunset, The Italian Job, The Thomas Crown Affair, Entrapment or The Ladykillers are all much cooler. But just as Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's" series is extremely overrated, this widely panned film is quite underrated. Actually, though it is central to the plot, the movie doesn't really focus on the heist element that much preferring to stick with character interactions and light comedy. Here also it's far from the funniest movie out there, but the humor is pleasant and harmless.

The acting is pretty good all around. Diane Keaton is certainly better here than in her horrible performance in the previous year's Because I Said So, and while some may find baffling that Katie Holmes chose this over The Dark Knight, she certainly does a better job here at playing a ditz than her uselessness in Batman Begins. Who knows? Maybe she just doesn't like Batman, maybe she wanted a role that would center more on her, maybe she just loves Thelma & Louise and is willing to have a lower paycheck, which, being married to Tom Cruise, she can totally afford to do. Queen Latifah is her usual self and it's always cool to see Ted Danson and Christopher McDonald (even if it's little more than a glorified cameo).

The movie has flaws yes, and shouldn't really show up on anyone's top 10 or top 200 list. The flashback narration doesn't really work that well and the ending is pretty ludicrous, but what the hell it's just a movie folks. I don't think anyone involved in the making of Mad Money declared that this movie will radically change your views on life. It's just simple harmless entertainment, something pleasant to watch if you stumble upon it.