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Everyone, everywhere, every minute Jul 30, 2008
When money wears out, the government shreds it to make way for a new rush of fresh, crisp bills. There's brilliant comic potential right there.
But alas, that comic potential is not realized in "Mad Money," a limply long-winded comedy that strives to be quirky, original and distinctly girly. Unfortunately the comic timing is always at least a little off, the writing is mediocre, and the three lead actresses are either given little to work with, or just don't have the acting muscle to make you care.
Bridget (Diane Keaton) is living a comfortable upper-middle-class existence in the suburbs -- until her laid-off hubby Don (Ted Danson) reveals that they are up to their ears in debt, and he can't get another job. Goodbye suburban splendor.
So Bridget rushes out to get a job, only to find that the only job an unskilled older woman can get is as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank. But when she sees Nina (Queen Latifah) shredding the worn-out bills, Bridget becomes hungrily determined to save her luxe lifestyle by smuggling out those about-to-be-destroyed bills... or "recycling" them, as she puts it.
So -- with the help of the impoverished Nina and funky, spacey young coworker Jackie (Katie Holmes) -- Bridget concocts a complex plan to smuggle out the bills, involving garbage cans, security cameras, locks and big panties. And for a time, it seems their troubles are over -- but of course, as the flash-forward interrogations show, things are not going to just go smoothly for those who steal, even if the money is worn out.
In theory, "Mad Money" is a funny movie -- it has a plot that hasn't really been dealt with before, and any complex series of escapades inevitably offers room for comedy. But somehow "Mad Money" never gels into something really entertaining -- instead, I spent most of the seemingly endless plot waiting for something unexpected to happen. Occasionally, I chuckled reluctantly.
A lot of the blame for that lies on Callie Khouri's shoulders -- she skims over potentially funny moments, and tries to draw out extremely unfunny ones by padding them with unspeakably lame dialogue ("Is this an intervention?"). And despite its manic energy (throwing bills around the bedroom), the plot unfolds at a painfully sluggish pace, which only gets interesting near the crazy finale.
Nor do acting and characterization save the day. Keaton does a solid, slightly manic job as a desperate woman who feels she has no choice but to "recycle," although she's a bit too spoiled to be likable. Latifah plays the same feisty-sista role she's played in a dozen other movies, and a snarly-haired, blank-eyed Holmes demonstrates the acting range of a pair of dentures. But with more exposed teeth.
"Mad Money" has plenty of money shown, but very little madness. This manic yet somehow dull comedy had quite a bit going for it, but sinks under the weight of its unquirky, unfunny self.
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