Seen on: January 19, 2008

The players: Director: Callie Khouri, Writer: Glenn Gers, Cast: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Roger R. Cross, Adam Rothenberg

Facts of interest: Callie Khouri also directed "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

The plot: Three women working at the Federal Reserve Bank plan to steal soon-to-be destroyed money.

Our quick thoughts: It’s nice to see that Tom Cruise’s religious system permits Katie Holmes to step in front of the camera again, because she undoubtedly delivers the most electrifying performance in a rather dull con movie. Indeed, Callie Khouri’s latest comedy “Mad Money” is nothing but a cheap female version of “Ocean’s Eleven,” minus the brilliant twists and spicy humor. Instead of plundering a casino, three employees of the Federal Reserve Bank plan to steal soon-to-be-destroyed currency from the government. Lead actresses Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes show enough enthusiasm and would have made an excellent trio in a different movie, but Glenn Gers’ superficial script robs them of every chance to shine, failing to supply them with catchy lines and more intriguing characters.

The plot couldn’t be more banal, the jokes rarely fly, and the entire stratagem to smuggle the money out of the bank lacks punch. In a solid con flick, people usually spend two thirds of the film devising an ingenious scheme for their robbery before surprising everybody who’s watching. In “Mad Money,” the characters figure out a plan in a matter of seconds, and 20 minutes into the movie, they pull of their first victorious theft. From there, the plot switches to autopilot, as they keep stealing more and more money without ever thinking about the possible consequences of being caught. The movie ends with a drastic but incredibly ridiculous twist, alerting cinemagoers that crime is contagious and the desire for money makes people do bad things. Wow!
 
Freaky quote: "Unless you have a half-dozen very hard rectangular breasts, we need to talk." - Roger R. Cross

The final word: Although “Mad Money” is not a total waste of time, it’s just too ordinary to fulfill any reasonable expectations. The best advice I can give you is to not spend any MONEY on this. It’s simply not worth the headache.