Mad Money (2008)
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Storyline
Taglines:
| 1: They're having the crime of their lives... |
Plot Summary:
The Story
The Cardigans are used to a cushy lifestyle, but that all changes when Don (Ted Danson) loses his job and the pile of bills overtakes the funds in their bank accounts. Bridget (Keaton) is stunned to learn they’re now $268,000 in debt with no income coming in and no real prospects on the horizon. The final straw is a bounced check to their maid. Not only will the upper-class Bridget have to do her own dishes, she’ll also have to find employment or risk a life on the streets.
Fortunately, the maid turns Bridget on to a position with the Federal Reserve Bank. Bridget can’t use a computer and has no real employable skills, but apparently she is talented enough to be hired as a janitor. Almost immediately upon accepting the job, she figures out a way to rob the place. No one else has ever done it, but Bridget comes up with a plan seemingly within hours of being on the job. Yeah, right…
Her plan won’t work without two of her fellow employees joining in, and, of course, she easily finds two suckers ready to rip off the Federal Reserve Bank. Her first co-conspirator is Nina (Queen Latifah), a single mom with two young boys, who has the job of actually shredding cash that’s been pulled from circulation due to its condition. The final member of the trio to sign on is Jackie (Holmes), an annoyingly fidgety person whose job it is to push around a cart loaded with cash. Together they steal a tidy sum of money not once, not twice, but for so long that their co-workers would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to catch on to their shenanigans. What started out as simple plan to relieve a few debts winds up being a cash cow they can’t stop milking. But crime doesn’t pay, right? Oh yes it does in this implausible, improbable, and silly film.
The Acting
Queen Latifah’s the one bright spot in this otherwise inane comedy. As the grounded one of the threesome, she’s sensible and logical, and her character more closely resembles a real person than the other two leading ladies. Keaton’s done this sort of role before and it’s not that much fun to watch her mug her way through another goofball comedy. But poor Katie Holmes drew the real short end of the stick in Mad Money. I’ve never seen anyone act the way her character Jackie does while at work. Dancing and swaying and generally acting a fool, it’s tough to believe this woman would be allowed anywhere near the Federal Reserve Bank, let alone assigned to as important of a job as hauling around used money. In a film populated with caricatures, Holmes’ Jackie is the most ridiculous.
The Bottom Line
Mad Money isn’t completely rotten, but it’s sour enough to leave an unpleasant aftertaste. Keaton and Holmes never disappear into their characters, and Queen Latifah can’t hold this one together on her own. After the first half hour of the film you know exactly what’s going to happen, who it’s going to happen to, and why. The fact there’s still hour to go is enough to make you mad at Mad Money.
Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide
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