Twenty Bucks

If you ever decide to doubt the power that one incredible idea can do for a movie, you have desperately got to see this! Twenty Bucks is one of the most creative ideas ever made into a movie and will definitely earn a few laughs for the writing alone. While there is no one main character here, the story revolves around a twenty dollar bill. The movie opens as the money enters circulation, and ends when it is mangled and ready to be burned. The life of the money is the story of the movie, and it's just delightful! As it changes hands from one person to the next, it has a profound impact on some people, and no impact on others. At times, it appears that it is a good luck charm, and at others a curse sent from God. Steve Buscemi, Brendan Fraser, Gladys Knight, Elizabeth Shue, Christopher Lloyd, and William H. Macy all get their hands on the money, and there are several others as well.

Apparently, this screenplay was written several years ago by Andre Bohem and nothing was ever done with it. After quite a long period of time, Andre's son Leslie got ahold of the script and modernized it a bit, and the end result is magnificent! While there aren't any acting performances here that are going to melt your hearts, each star is really enjoyable to watch in one way or another. The casting director did a fantastic job of lining up so many recognizable faces, and I found it hilarious that the stripper at the bachelor party (Melora Walters), also played the funeral director near the end of the movie! I knew I had seen her face somewhere before and couldn't see it until I saw the credits. When I realized they were the same person, I busted out laughing, and yet was still able to see the incredible irony of the whole situation.

If you are watching this because you like one of the actors, then you very well could be disappointed by what you see. No one of the actors here has a tremendous amount of screen time, but all are quite good to watch. If you just want to see something different than the normal hollywood crap, then this is absolutely perfect!

If you love irony, this is a movie for you! This is an incredible movie with a great storyline. The plot seems obvious if you read the summary but it's far more developed. The characters are each gems, and the actors playing them are of course, all top-notch names. I'd have to put this in the same category as 12:01, Groundhog Day and Short Cuts as far as the time/space ironies as lives and events intermix. If you like any of these, you'll love Twenty Bucks! Worth a hundred!

"Twenty Bucks" focuses on a $20 bill getting passed around from person to person, and how we get to see the people's lives: a man whose travels have consisted of a trip to the bowling alley, a drug dealer hosting a summer camp, some crooks plotting a robbery, and some people's attempts at relationships. It's a lighthearted but authentic look at the world of today (well, the world of 1993). And it always shows how people are determined to keep going no matter what happens.

Does the movie have any problems? Maybe some of the characters' lives work out too conveniently. But that really doesn't drag the movie down at all. They did a very good job with this movie, and I recommend it. Starring Linda Hunt, Brendan Fraser, Elisabeth Shue, Christopher Lloyd, Steve Buscemi and William H. Macy (happy birthday, William!).

The problem with movies that actually try not to insult your intelligence is that they are totally inaccessible and make you feel like you're sitting at a table in the high school cafeteria with the cool kids . . . they'll let you watch, but you should not be under any illusion that you belong. This is not the case with Twenty Bucks. I caught this one on UPN last Sunday and was amazed. It's a fascinating story of a $20 bill's journey in and out of the lives of people to whom it changes hands. Sometimes it's only there for a moment, sometimes it's there for days, sometimes it doesn't go where you might think it would go, but it's always an interesting story. This is a wonderful anthology film that manages to introduce many characters and get you brought up to speed on their lives in a brief period of time. And check out those credits! You know who these actors are, and it's obvious that no one was letting their ego get in the way of telling the story. It's a wonderful, lovingly crafted movie that is well worth your time to see.

This is a series of short stories, detailing what happens to people holding a particularly twenty-dollar-bill as it switches from owner to owner. Several of the segments are quite good, my favorites being with the holdup men: Christopher Lloyd and Steve Buscemi. (Now there's two interesting characters actors, for you!)

It's not "familar fare"with strippers, profanity and the usual immoral messages that filmmakers love to give us. I was sorry to see that little old lady Linda Hunt use the Lord's name in vain.

Overall, a decent "rental" but not a purchase. The cast is more interesting and deep than the story.