There's an old saying: 'I wrote you a long letter because I didn't have time to write a short one.' In the case of Mad Money, I'll write a short review because the movie won't sustain a long one. (It barely sustains itself.)
Mad Money (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:8
Rotten:21
Average Rating:4.6/10
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual material and language, and brief drug references.
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jan 18, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $20,536,106
Synopsis:
Academy Award® winner Diane Keaton (Something’s Gotta Give), Oscar® nominee Queen Latifah (Chicago)
and Katie Holmes (Thank You for Smoking) star in Mad Money, a comedy about three ordinary women...
Academy Award® winner Diane Keaton (Something’s Gotta Give), Oscar® nominee Queen Latifah (Chicago)
and Katie Holmes (Thank You for Smoking) star in Mad Money, a comedy about three ordinary women who form an unlikely friendship and decide to do something extraordinary—rob one of the most secure banks in the
world. Mad Money is directed by Academy Award® winner Callie Khouri (screenwriter of Thelma and Louise, director of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood), from a script by Glen Gers (Fracture).
Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is shocked to learn that she is on the verge of losing her home and comfortable upper middle class lifestyle when her husband Don (Ted Danson) is downsized from his job.
Armed only with a decades old English degree and years as a dedicated mother and corporate wife, Bridget is forced into the unfamiliar labor market with no job skills. Finally, she accepts the only position she can find— janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank.
The one-time suburban mom soon discovers she has more in common with her new co-workers than
she thought. Bridget forges an unexpected bond with Nina (Queen Latifah), a hard-working single mom with
two kids to raise, and Jackie (Katie Holmes), an exuberant free spirit with nothing to lose. Caught up in a system
that underestimates their talents and keeps their dreams just out of reach, Bridget, Nina and Jackie set out to
even the score.
After a lifetime of playing by the rules, the three devise a plan to smuggle soon-to-be destroyed currency
out of the supposedly airtight Reserve. As the unlikely crime syndicate amasses piles of cash, it looks like they
have pulled off the perfect crime—until a minor misstep alerts the authorities. With more money than they know
what to do with, the women are pushed to the limits of their ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the law! --© Overture Films
[More]
Starring: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson
Starring: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, Stephen Root, Christopher McDonald, Adam Rothenberg, Roger Cross
Director: Callie Khouri
Director: Callie Khouri
Screenwriter: Glenn Gers
Producer: Jay Cohen, Frank DeMartini, James Acheson, Michael Flannigan
Composer: Martin Davich, James Newton Howard
Studio: Overture
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Release:
May 13, 2008
Reviews for Mad Money
This movie is designed to be fun, and its intentions are signaled to us over and over again, as when the women jump around on a bed, giggling and flinging old, dirty money around in a wanton display of pure idiocy.
Speaking of recycling, this script by Glenn Gers reeks of it and not in a healthy, eco-minded way.
Mad Money is small change that somehow manages to add up to a satisfying sum.
It's just OK, one of those decent little movies that get released in January.
Holmes, with Alice Cooper hair and crazy Jim Carrey eyes, looks terrible and acts worse, unless this movie is unintentionally a lobotomy documentary. Whatever could have happened to her in the last couple of years to zap the talent out of her like this?
When someone takes our money without offering much in return, don't we have every right to get mad?
This leap might be a bit easier to take if the robbers involved weren't all straight from the female stereotype handbook. And if any of their male companions were given an ounce of credibility.
he stars phone in their expected personas (Keaton testy, Latifah earthy), except for Holmes, who's unconvincing as a gum-chewing trailer babe.
This movie scared me. What is it saying about us? This is basically a bunch of rich people celebrating pathological greed. There's nothing satirical about the film.
The pocketing of tired bills headed for the shredder, the producing of tired movies headed for the theatre -- it's all just recycling.
There is little suspense, no true danger; their plan is simple, the complications are few, and they don't get excited much beyond some high-fives and hugs and giggles.
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
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