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Movie Review: Mad Money

‘Mad Money’ a waste of great talent

By John Starr

Special to 2theadvocate.com

Courtesy of Overture Films Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah and Diane Keaton "Mad Money." Mad Money PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER Starring: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, Roger R. Cross Crew: Director, Callie Khouri; Writer, Glenn Gers, Callie Khouri (Running time: 1 hr. 44 min.) MPAA Rating: PG-13 Critic's Rating: out of 4 stars. Movie Poll: 2theadvocate.com poll Have you seen “Mad Money?" If so, what did you think? Was it... Excellent Good Fair Bad Vote!

“Mad Money” is a comedy -- and I use this word loosely -- about three co-workers who attempt to do the impossible -- steal money from the Federal Reserve Bank. It isn’t an easy feat, since the Reserve is as secure as Fort Knox. However, these criminal masterminds manage to find a loophole.

Bridget Cardigan, played by Diane Keaton, is a suburban house wife who has to get a job in order to retain her lush middle-class lifestyle after her husband (Ted Danson) gets laid off. With some help from her housekeeper, Bridget finds a job that requires no previous work experience -- janitorial work at the Federal Reserve Bank.

It is at work that Bridget finds her accomplices, Nina and Jackie. Nina Brewster, played by Queen Latifah, is the person responsible for shredding used and abused money, and Jackie Truman (Katie Holmes) is the employee responsible for carting the money from the vault to the shredding room. Together they create a plan to steal money from the Reserve.

This seems like an entertaining plot that could easily have some really interesting twists and turns.

Unfortunately, “Mad Money” falls short in a multitude of areas.

Although it is listed as a comedy, I found very few things in this film made me laugh. Granted, there were a few amusing moments, but it hardly would have justified its placement in the comedy genre.

Let me take this time to confess -- I am a Keaton fan. I enjoy almost all of her performances and have grown to like her quirky, older roles, too. I also enjoy Latifah. However, their performances along with that of Holmes lacked any kind of energy.

Much like the movie, there seemed to be something missing.

When I think of comedic criminals stealing money from the federal government, I picture the episode of “I Love Lucy” when she worked in the chocolate factory.

“Mad Money” is far from this type of humor.

All in all, this film gives a decent effort, but leaves no lasting impression.

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