Milk Money

I saw "Milk Money" when I was eleven; much of what happens in the movie is the sort of stuff that would make any eleven-year-old boy think "Whoa...cool!" Looking back on it, I still think that it was pretty funny, but was it the most mature movie? No, and it doesn't pretend to be. I read somewhere that this movie was sexist; I wouldn't know one way or the other. All that I interpreted was that the movie was a nice, horny excuse to have fun. Richard Benjamin has proved himself to be quite capable as a director, and this adds to that.

I know, the prostitute-with-a-heart-of-gold context is a cliché, but this is a comedy, so it passes. And believe you me, this V (Melanie Griffith) is definitely a V for vendetta! Also starring Ed Harris, Malcolm McDowell, Casey Siemaszko, and a very young Anne Heche. Really entertaining, especially the report on the female reproductive system.

Bad direction, a weak script and a career-low performance by Ed Harris sideline 'Milk Money', a movie which could've been excellent, but wasn't.

Onetime-respected-actor-now-reduced-to-B-movie-star Malcolm McDowell delivers a hilarious performance with help from Melanie Griffith and talented newcomer Michael Patrick Carter, but they alone do little to rescue the film.

The first half hour or so is perfectly on tune, then everything seems to change gears and 'Milk Money' is pushed from a comedy to a sappy drama with an awful dance sequence, and an ending that's even worse. To complicate matters even more, Harris is completely miscast, and future star Anne Heche is seriously underused.

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-

Lighten up people...this is just entertainment, not Ghandi (yawn). I found this movie to be great entertainment for a Saturday afternoon. My wife and I laughed all the way through. Excellent performances by Ed Harris, Melanie Griffith and Michael Patrick Carter. The cross communication between Harris and Griffith based on Carter's lie is hilarious.

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.