Ladrões de Luxo

I found out about this movie 24 hours ago, and in that time the summary on the main page has changed three times. Each of them made reference to James Marsters' most famous previous job, on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which may or may not be a good thing.

I'm not an obsessive fan (as far as you know), but he's a solid actor, and so is everyone in this movie who isn't playing a cop. This is a TV movie on USA, for crying out loud, where does it get off being GOOD? The last TV movie on USA I watched was "Hard Cash" with Christian Slater and Val Kilmer, and there is a prime example of two hours of my life I will never get back. While that was a movie made by a director and actors who are all on their way down, "Cool Money" (despite the lame title) is made with relative unknowns both behind and in front of the camera, and I hope to see them working again soon on newer and bigger things.

Director Gary Burns keeps the action moving along quickly, despite the obvious handicaps that are commercial interruptions, and having the budget of a USA TV-movie. The script, by Shelley Evans, doesn't exactly pop, but it's above average for what it is, and gives us some really great characters, even if the memorable lines are few and far between.

Even if you know nothing about Marsters, he's an actor with presence and the face of a man up to no good; he'd look right at home in any Guy Ritchie movie. High marks for this one, and extra bonus points for a shockingly good Margot Kidder as Comfort's New York mother.

I don't know what I expected, but the acting was really great in this. I knew Marsters was going to be good, but was also impressed with the men who played Sammy, Doc, PEggy (Margot Kidder) and the guy who was afraid of the elevator,--City, (Conrad Dunn--who I enjoyed as "Nick the Pimp" on DAYS OF OUR LIVES years ago) and Doc's cousin (was it?) Country, who had the crown on his head.

James Marsters...sigh. He just blew me away when he played Spike on BUFFY. I don't think I'll ever get over that story or his incredible performance on that show. No British accent, a bit more subdued and not such a "character" (although smooth) James shows us once again just how versatile and talented he is. Somebody give this guy the lead in a series, I need to see him---weekly.

Briefly: Rather entertaining for a late night TV movie with good food and wine and not much else to do, however, don't expect to toss your nickers off for it either. Picture Ocean's 11 poor neighbour with an eviction notice under the door, and there you'll have it :P

The good:

Actors were good. General plot was fine. Atmosphere was there. Music the right style for this type of movie.

The bad/unfortunate:

Direction: there was such a mush up of directional styles superficially coming and going... did not really stick to a signature style. Had a little or rather tried to have a little bit of a Tarantino vibe to it (without the violence bit but the narrative dialogue there) but...uh..NO. It could have been so much more. Still, all in all it keeps moving at an appropriate pace so it doesn't bore you to death like other low budget films I have witnessed.

Script: Gosh, it was weak at times. I thought some scenes were not required, some others not expanded as much, some characters truly interesting not really developed. Had few humorous bits in there but not as much. It lacked originality at times and especially at the robberies!!! I mean come on!This movie should have had at least a bit smart and complex robbery scenes or at least the LAST one that was supposedly a big fish. Again, had the potential to be so much more.

Unfortunate title: I mean ''cool money'' really? so not cool...

I thought the movie was pretty good. I agree that they did take some license with actual facts (Rochester Downs, should have been Batavia Downs). I believe that they did that in order to remain within a fairly small budget. Overall, I really liked the film. It was interesting and although it was not action packed, it didn't ever seem to move slowly. The characters were very believable and the dialogue was real. All the actors did a great job in making you want to root for the bad guys. It certainly made me interested in finding out more about the actual events on which it was based. Also, having James Marsters in the lead role didn't hurt at all.

I absolutely love this movie. James Marsters and all of the other actors were excellent! The movie blew my mind away I didn't expect it to be this good! I have seen it 4 times already , it is so amazing. And a plus, James is like the hottest and sexiest actor out there! The writing is amazing. I was hooked after the first 20 minutes! I can honestly say that this movie has lived up to it's hype, especially in the Buffy verse. Not many movies can do that!Especially TV movies. I can watch this movie over and over again. I am not a very big movie fan , I'm more of a TV show girl. So, if this movie can make me love it, then it's gotta be good!