Mad Money (2008) starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, Adam Rothenberg, Roger R. Cross, Christopher McDonald directed by Callie Khouri Movie Review

Mad Money (2008)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Queen Latifah and Diane Keaton in Mad Money

Busted Keaton's Crime Caper

A wealthy wife who finds her money gone, a single mother wanting the best for her sons and a ditzy young woman who wants to travel decide to pull of a clever robbery at the Federal Reserve, that is "Mad Money" summed up in one sentence. But in that sentence it establishes one thing, we have 3 very different women brought together in the want of money and as such we have a movie which is part about the friendship which forms between these 3 women, the humour of working together to pull of the crime. The trouble is that this side of things isn't that original because we have regular characters found in other movies and whilst the actual way they go about doing the crime is sort of entertaining it ends up only a small part of the movie and quite frankly the best part. Basically "Mad Money" is entertaining but also forgettable, a movie which will pass an hour or two but you wouldn't go out of your way to watch again.

After her husband loses his job and they end up almost $300,000 in debt Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton - Because I Said So) gets herself a job working as a cleaner at the Federal Reserve. It is there she spots an opportunity to restore her fortunes by stealing the old money which is to be destroyed. Having convinced colleagues Jackie Truman (Katie Holmes - Batman Begins) and Nina Brewster (Queen Latifah - Hairspray) to help out they put their plan into action and before long have more money than they know what to do with. But the more they take the more they want and eventually these three lowly Federal Reserve workers and their partners make a mistake.

Katie Holmes as Jackie Truman in Mad Money

As crime capers go "Mad Money" comes way down the list towards the middle because quite frankly the crime isn't that great and the comedy isn't that great either but it is sort of a nice idea. There is something quite amusing about Bridget's plan to switch locks on the carts so that they can sneak old money into rubbish bins before switching the locks back in the shredding room. It's not a solid plan but then the simplicity of it actually adds to the amusement of what these 3 women are up to. Maybe if it had been more intricate then "Mad Money" would be more memorable but it is quite frankly the best part of the movie.

Aside from watching them actually steal the money the rest of "Mad Money" is quite obvious. Alongside watching these 3 women bond and become best friends we also have the various close misses as things go wrong and they nearly get caught. Plus in a less than stunning twist they get greedy, more people become involved and eventually they get caught and that is not a spoiler because the movie actually opens with each of the women trying to destroy the money they stole as Agents close in on them. It is all that obvious and whilst amusing to watch these three women work together and become friends it is forgettable.

As is so often the case the cast of "Mad Money" ends up being the main reason to watch even though there is not an original character or one of interest in the movie. Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes all deliver amusing performances in routine characters and the various men which include Ted Danson and Roger R. Cross whilst only supporting characters add to the entertainment. It's just these sort of characters are 2 dimensional and can be found in various other average movies.

What this all boils down to is that "Mad Money" is the sort of movie which will amuse if you stumble across on TV but it's not the sort that you would go out of your way to watch or remember a few days after seeing.


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