En toute complicité

Paul Newman shines in this implausible, but highly watchable caper flick about three unlikely armored car robbers. It is hard to believe that Newman is 75. He is fitter and more energetic than most men who are fifteen years his junior. He single-handedly elevates this film from mediocrity.

The story is nothing unique. Henry (Newman) is a bank robber who is delivered to a nursing home after a debilitating stroke. His nurse (Linda Fiorentino) suspects he is not the vegetable he appears to be. After she gets him to admit his ruse, she exhorts him to knock off an armored truck with her.

Director Marek Kanievska and writer Max Frye leave numerous gaps in the story. We never discover what tips off Carol that Henry is faking. They didn't do enough character development of Carol and Wayne (Dermot Mulroney) to make it believable that they would want to become criminals, no less hatch the scheme. The idea that Carol was pretending to be the dispatcher for the armored car company from a cell phone in the truck is a flimsy concoction. Even with digital technology, most cell phones in moving vehicles sound like cell phones, and you can hear road noises and the engine running.

Still, despite a lackluster script, the film is enjoyable because of Paul Newman. Newman gives a fantastic rendition of a stroke victim, and his hardened and cantankerous portrayal was marvelous. Linda Fiorentino plays the scheming sex-kitten nurse in one of her better performances. The screen chemistry between Fiorentino and Newman is excellent with undercurrents of sexual desire constantly flaring up between them. Dermot Mulroney is relegated to a role that was essentially a fifth wheel and is adequate as Carol's loser of a husband.

I rated this film a 7/10. It is good entertainment and an opportunity to see a master at work. Newman hasn't lost a beat in a movie career that spans almost a half a century. It is worth seeing for him alone.

Two days ago, one of the greatest actors of all time left this life. Paul Leonard Newman was best known for films like "Hud", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Verdict". But he also starred in small, less noticed movies over the years. One example is "Where the Money Is". Newman plays an aged crook who moves into a nursing home where it becomes clear to the woman (Linda Fiorentino) running the place that he's not as disabled as he claims to be and might in fact be looking for help in pulling off another heist.

OK, so an elderly criminal going in for one last scheme is sort of a hackneyed plot. But in this role, Newman doesn't even need to talk much; it seemed to me as if his eyes functioned as actors. Not to mention that there's some great chemistry between him and Fiorentino. This might not be the most noticeable movie, but it's worth seeing, if only once. There will never be another Paul Newman.

Also starring Dermot Mulroney.

For admirers of quality movies, one of the greatest sources of frustration has always been the inverse ration that exists between movies that are good and movies that make money. The essential rule of thumb is that, with few exceptions, the larger a film's budget happens to be, the less likely that that film will have anything new or original to say. The corollary principle is that, given the choice between patronizing a film that is original, complex and meaningful and one that is derivative, simpleminded and thematically empty, the mass audience will go with the latter type every time. Driven by the need for profits, large studios are then forced to cater to this `lowest common denominator' mentality. The result is that wonderful little films are almost invariably squeezed out of the marketplace, left to languish in obscure art houses scattered in a few major cities, while bloated, mindless multi-million dollar monstrosities fill sprawling megaplexes found in cities, suburbs and rural areas stretching literally from coast to coast.

How many people, for instance, have even heard of, let alone seen, `Where the Money Is'? Yet here is a film dedicated to the spirit of pure fun, a lighthearted black comedy that is blessedly free of the hardboiled cynicism and explicit violence that plague so many such films. The film hooks the audience from the very start with the originality of its plot and setting. Set in a small Oregon town (though the film was, rather inexplicably, filmed in the environs of Montreal), the movie stars the superb Linda Fiorentino and Dermot Mulroney as long time high school sweethearts who have married right after graduation, found their comfortable little niche in the small world they inhabit and now begun to take each other for granted. (The opening scene introduces us to them as they are roadhousing around on prom night in his prize Mustang, the one symbol of a rebellious youth that he still clings to all these years later). It is at her job – as a nurse at a local convalescent hospital – that a measure of excitement reenters their humdrum lives and relights the long dormant spark of adventure that she, in particular, has been missing. This novelty comes in the form of an aging bank robber (Paul Newman) who has apparently suffered a stroke and is sent to the rest home due to overcrowding at the prison hospital.

The early scenes of the film are wickedly funny as Fiorentino, suspicious that her new patient may just be faking it, plays a clever little game of cat-and-mouse to try to catch him in his impressive charade. Suddenly, having achieved her goal, she is not quite so sure who is really the cat and who the mouse.

To say more about the plot would really do a disservice to this film, which manages to keep us intrigued by the unpredictability of its most unusual setup. Fiorentino and Mulroney are thoroughly believable as a couple of once-edgy youngsters grown into responsible, comfortable but slightly restless adults. She, in particular, finds herself stifled by the humdrum quality of both their life and their marriage together. Mulroney, on the other hand, seems to have pretty much lost that desire for living on the edge, yet, for her sake and, perhaps, for the sake of that tiny spark for adventure that still lives unquenched somewhere deep inside him, he is willing to meet her halfway – even if a bit reluctantly – on the field of lawlessness. Newman, as the expert bank robber who stumbles unexpectedly into their lives, provides the perfect catalyst for renewed adventure.

The amazing thing about `Where the Money Is' is that, thanks to its writers, Max Frye, Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright, and the director, Marek Kanievska, the film never ends up taking itself too seriously. It always knows that its prime purpose is to give the audience a fun time. This it does with the help of its three dazzling stars, who seem to be having the time of their professional lives (Fiorentino is especially wonderful). It sure must be infectious, because we, in the audience, have a pretty damn good time watching them.

This little movie is all about Paul Newman - it's a heist flick, not of the same caliber of The Sting, but good fun nonetheless. Ole Blue Eyes at 75 yrs old still has more charisma than the current, top 5 highest earning movie stars combined. Linda Fiorentino has great chemistry with both her co-stars - no surprise there. She's so good, it's a shame she's not given more dialogue to chew on. Dermot Mulroney is every woman's complete package - OOFA! Catherine Keener (his real-life wife) is a one happy woman. This is worth seeing on the big screen!!

i just love this little ditty. Nothing heavy or too meaningful here...just good old fashioned entertainment. A neat little story told very nicely and believably, with good cohesion and style. Intelligently shot and scored with a good dialogue which keeps this smart little story rolling along very nicely.Very funny at times and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend it as a "feel good" temporary diversion. Great cast and an interesting plot that will keep you looking forward to the next viewing, which is what it is all about...