Mad Money Movie Review
Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes in Funny Heist Film
Can three women with no criminal backgrounds rob the Federal Reserve Bank and get away with it?
Based on the British TV film Hot Money, the new comedy film Mad Money is a fun heist film that brings together the most unlikely of culprits. Mad Money follows the lives of three women Diane Keaton (Something’s Gotta Give), Queen Latifah (Hairspray), and Katie Holmes (Thank You for Smoking) who work at the Federal Reserve Bank in different capacities.
A Job at the Federal Reserve Bank
With no marketable skills, Bridget (Keaton) takes a job as a janitor at the Bank when her out-of-work husband Don (Ted Danson) reveals that they are $286,000 in debt and will need to move out of their upper middle class neighborhood. There she meets Nina (Latifah) who works at the shredding machine where she destroys old currency scheduled for destruction, and Jackie (Holmes), a young woman with a drug problem who pushes carts from room to room throughout the high-security facility.
When their well-orchestrated scheme results in piles of easy money, they decide to continue the crimes periodically over the next three years. Soon the money is accumulating faster than they can store it – for they have agreed (well almost agreed) not to spend it for fear of attracting attention from the authorities. Even so, Bridget buys a $62,000 diamond ring, single-mom Nina puts her children in a fancy private school, and Jackie’s husband goes a little crazy with the money.
Actresses Work Well Together
The three women must work together perfectly in order to pull off this difficult crime. Likewise, the three actresses need to play off each other’s strengths for the chemistry to work. While still her usual ditzy on-screen persona, Keaton also displays a determination born from desperation. Whenever Nina or Jackie feels like giving up, Bridget keeps them going with just the right words of encouragement.
Latifah is convincingly strong and sassy as Nina, while simultaneously vulnerable where her children (and a certain flirtatious security guard) are concerned. Holmes has the most challenging (and least likeable) role here; Jackie is a not-too-smart drug user, who dances her way through the hallways at work, shares a trailer with her even-less-intelligent husband (Adam Rothenberg), and relies on her instincts to get through tough times. As the completely ineffectual head of security at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, Stephen Root does a fine job portraying a man who takes himself too seriously, but the threat not seriously enough.
- Mad Money
- Director: Callie Khouri
- Run time: 104 minutes
- Rating: PG-13
To learn more about Mad Money, read Fun Facts About Mad Money and Clothing in the Movies and on TV.
