Mad Money (2008)

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.

Fmovies: Mad Money was mildly entertaining...very mildly. It can't seem to muster the energy to be more so. Because of the movie's structure, you more-or-less know where the movie's headed and you basically just have to sit and see how it gets there. Along the way, the characters are making what seem to be really obvious mistakes that any law-enforcement official with a lick of sense would catch on to in no time.

The main characters are pretty nonchalant about stealing gobs of money, and the supposedly vigilant security staff is equally blasé - barely expending the energy to raise an inquiring eyebrow when they see suspicious behavior. Significant others are also pretty halfhearted in their attempts to point out the negative consequences of their loved ones' behavior, and end up just going with the felonious flow.

Why not rent a copy of the Italian Job or Ocean's Eleven instead?

I loved this movie! It brings a SMILE to your face. Isn't it one of the most important missions of cinema as an art ? (Apart from making you dream that your craziest dreams my come true too?!) Naïf ? No. Just relaxed and happy.

It also made me discover Katie Holmes ! Never got attracted by any news regarding her or any movie she participated in. Yes, I'm probably late on this "discovery"... But did you too NOTICE the way she DANCES all through the movie ?! FANTASTIC! I WISH I COULD MOVE LIKE HER ! :-) To me, as they call it here in Italy, it was "ciliegina sulla torta" :-)

Complimenti to director and scriptwriters !

Mad Money fmovies. 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.

The overwhelming feeling of disappointment after walking out of this film is that this film could have been much more. The caper at the heart of "Mad Money" most closely resembles "The Inside Man", director Spike Lee's under appreciated masterpiece bank robbery film. However, the films could not be more different. Spike Lee was smart and experienced enough to know that even with a great cast and clever caper, you need a vision to bring out greatness. Mr. Lee also knew that you must choose a style.

Director Kallie Khouri, best known for writing and producing the feminist cult classic "Thelma & Louise" failed in every conceivable way - she demonstrates no eye for cinematography, a tin ear for dialogue, no timing for pacing, no point of view, and no talent for directing actors.

"Mad Money" is based on an British caper television movie "Hot Money", produced by Granada Television. The screenplay translation to America was written by Glenn Gers, whose best known screenplay to date was "Fracture" staring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Mr. Gers failed miserably to take any chances. A more talented writer would have created the characters from whole cloth, rather than substituting American stereotypes; in "Mad Money" there is the head-bopping early twenty-something, the black single mother in the projects, and the upper middle class desperate housewife. There is no excuse for laziness. If Mr. Gers had create real people, then perhaps he wouldn't have created characters that came out of other people's poor imagination. Writing requires an understanding of humanity and cannot be faked. The screenplay for "Mad Money" had not one shred of genuine emotion. Spare me the notion that these characters were suppose to be light and frothy drawbacks to characters like in the caper classic "Ladykillers" with Sir Alec Guinness. There were just about 3 laughs in the entire picture. If I ever was so lucky to have a cast with Queen Latifah and Diane Keaton, I'd be embarrassed that I had put such a blemish on their filmographies, by giving them so little to make great.

No comedy, no drama, no thrills, no real danger, and no romance creates no film worth watching. I wish they could have afforded Carrie Fisher to doctor this screenplay and imbue it with a glint of genuine greed or true wit or anything that would have made this film any more watchable.

I also wish that the studio would have kept Ms. Khouri in the producer's chair, and brought in a director who knew how to fix a script, bring style, rather than shoot from an anywhere goes point of view, and attempt to make something memorable.

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.