Mad Money (film)
Encyclopedia
Mad Money is a 2008
comedy
-crime film
starring Diane Keaton
, Queen Latifah
and Katie Holmes
, and directed by Callie Khouri
. It is loosely based on the 2001
British
film Hot Money
.
, with the suspects getting caught and being interrogated. Then it flashes back to three years earlier and the film continues forward from there, interspersed with occasional bits from the interrogation.
Three years before getting caught, Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton
) lived a comfortable upper middle class life until her husband Don Cardigan (Ted Danson
) was "downsized" from his position and sunk into debt. The paycheck for Selina, the housecleaner, bounces again. Selina confronts Bridget and suggests she take a job as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
.
On her first day on the job, Bridget hatches a scheme to steal worn-out dollar bills slated for destruction. For her team she chooses Nina (Queen Latifah
), who works the dollar bill shredder, and Jackie (Katie Holmes
), who takes bill carts from the Secret Service room to the shredding room. It takes some work to persuade Nina to join, but Jackie joins them quickly.
The plan is that in the Secret Service room Bridget will switch a cart's official Master-brand lock with a near identical lock she purchased at Home Depot. Bridget will tell Jackie the cart number and give Nina the official lock. When Jackie gets the chosen cart, she dumps some bills from the cart into a trash can before taking the cart to Nina, who then uses Bridget's key to open it and restores the official lock, and then proceeds to shred the remaining bills. Meanwhile, Bridget, in the course of her janitorial duties, retrieves the dumped bills from the trash and splits them among Nina and Jackie in the women's restroom.
Their first robbery is a success though the take is not as big as they had hoped. However, they're emboldened to do it repeatedly. Once Don and Bridget pay off their debt, Don suggests they stop before they get caught. Bridget rejects this idea and persuades Nina and Jackie to keep going. They almost get caught but they end up cutting in Barry, one of the security guards, who is attracted to Nina.
A Federal Bank Examiner shows up at a party at Bridget's house, and the next day Bridget sees him at work. The Examiner confronts Glover (Stephen Root
), who is unwilling to admit anyone has stolen a single bill out of his bank as a matter of professional pride. Tipped off, that night Bridget and her accomplices begin trying to get rid of all the loot stashed in their houses, but the cops move in before all the evidence is destroyed. Bridget escapes but the others get caught.
Bridget hires a tax attorney to defend them. The lawyer gets Bridget and all her accomplices off the hook for their crimes, because neither the law enforcement, nor the examiner can prove that the large stash of cash in their homes came from the Federal Reserve Bank. Technically, it isn't illegal to have a couple hundred thousand dollars in cash lying around inside a private residence. However, they spent a large sum of that stolen cash to buy expensive objects and improvements on their houses, and did not pay the taxes for them because they couldn't justify the income. The IRS demands they pay their taxes, which turn out to be equal in amount to the money that still remains.
Eight months later, Bridget reveals to Nina and Jackie that she had stashed away much of the stolen money in the basement of a friend's bar.
(2001), tells the story of three women, Bridget, Liz and Jackie, who embarked on a plan to steal thousands of pounds of banknotes that were due to be destroyed at the Bank of England's incinerating plant in Essex. Fictionalised account of a real-life case.
, the film has received a "rotten" rating of 20%, based on 93 reviews. On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 41 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
Roger Ebert
gave the film a rating of one and a half stars, and wrote, "The bottom line is, some girls will like it, the men not so much." The film also received one and a half stars in a review in the Chicago Tribune
, and Michael Phillips wrote that the film's cast was not to blame: "Do not blame the cast. The cast is game. The dreary visual scheme, however, combines unwell with the pokey, enervated rhythm of the heist scenes, and while I'm neither a medical doctor nor a script doctor, it seems this film could use a few uppers."
The film received three stars in Newsday
, and Jan Stuart wrote "Mad Money is no Rififi
, but Khouri and Gers invest it with an individuality and generosity of spirit that lift it into the realm of guiltless pleasure." Bill Wine of All Headline News gave the film two and a half stars, writing "Mad Money is a light and lively, likable low-tech lark. Don't expect big laughs, but you can at least bank on it to hold your interest." The Canadian Press gave the film one and a half stars, and criticized Katie Holmes
' s performance "While Keaton has long done zany and giddy well, and she and Latifah have an interesting contrast of personalities, Holmes' presence feels like an afterthought." The New York Post
, The New York Times
and Variety
also criticized Katie Holmes' s performance in the film, and The New York Times called Holmes "the movie's weakest link."
In an article in the Boston Herald
titled "Don't waste your Mad Money on poor comedy", Stephen Schaefer gave the film a rating of "C", writing "Even with the legendary Diane Keaton center stage, Mad Money fails to hit the stratosphere of giddy, intoxicating comedy." The film received a critical review in from Claudia Puig in USA Today
"This lifeless comedy and uninventive caper feels as if it were cobbled together at a studio's obligatory consciousness-raising diversity seminar."
The film scored a third place in the NY Post's Top 10 Worst Movies of 2008 overview
This film also scored an eighth place in At the Movies' Ben Lyons' Top 10 Worst Movies of 2008.
, with a return of USD$2.3 million from 2,470 screens. Reuters
referred to this return as a "modest" result for the film's opening day. By the end of its opening weekend, Mad Money had slipped to seventh place, with a weekend take of $7.7 million. Writing for Rotten Tomatoes
, Gitesh Pandya noted that the opening weekend per theater revenue "averaged a not-so-impressive $3,126." amNewYork called the film's opening weekend return "a big flop at the box office," and the New Zealand Herald described it as "a box-office flop". Richard Johnson of the New York Post wrote that the movie "bombed, debuting at an abysmal seventh place on the box-office charts." The film's four-day take was a dismal $9.2 million. The film also did not fare well in its release in other countries, and Conor Bresnan of Box Office Mojo
reported that "Mad Money bombed in its first two markets" overseas. With an estimated budget of $22 million, the film had broken even by the time it came off theaters.
In the DVD director's commentary, director Callie Khouri credits producer Jay Cohen as having brought her the British movie he had obtained rights to called Hot Money.
Hot Money is based on the true story of a group of women who worked at the Bank of England
and, over an unknown period, removed an unknown amount of money that was supposed to be destroyed. No one except these women know the exact details of the theft. Callie Khouri and Jay Cohen worked 5 years to bring a deliberately Americanized version of Hot Money to the screen as Mad Money using various writers. Both Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah were attached early on to the project and writers began designing the characters specifically around the two actresses.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
-crime film
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
starring Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
and Katie Holmes
Katie Holmes
Katherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
, and directed by Callie Khouri
Callie Khouri
Callie Khouri is an American screenwriter and film director. In 1992 she won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for the film, Thelma & Louise.-Biography:...
. It is loosely based on the 2001
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film Hot Money
Hot Money
-Plot:The drama tells the story of three workers at the Bank of England incinerating plant in Essex. The trio, led by Bridget , hatch a plan to steal thousands of pounds by stashing the notes in their underwear.-Cast:-Production:...
.
Plot
The film begins in medias resIn medias res
In medias res or medias in res is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase...
, with the suspects getting caught and being interrogated. Then it flashes back to three years earlier and the film continues forward from there, interspersed with occasional bits from the interrogation.
Three years before getting caught, Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
) lived a comfortable upper middle class life until her husband Don Cardigan (Ted Danson
Ted Danson
Edward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He also plays a recurring role on Larry David's HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close...
) was "downsized" from his position and sunk into debt. The paycheck for Selina, the housecleaner, bounces again. Selina confronts Bridget and suggests she take a job as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City covers the 10th District of the Federal Reserve, which includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and portions of western Missouri and northern New Mexico. The Bank has branches in Denver, Oklahoma City, and Omaha. The current president is...
.
On her first day on the job, Bridget hatches a scheme to steal worn-out dollar bills slated for destruction. For her team she chooses Nina (Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
), who works the dollar bill shredder, and Jackie (Katie Holmes
Katie Holmes
Katherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
), who takes bill carts from the Secret Service room to the shredding room. It takes some work to persuade Nina to join, but Jackie joins them quickly.
The plan is that in the Secret Service room Bridget will switch a cart's official Master-brand lock with a near identical lock she purchased at Home Depot. Bridget will tell Jackie the cart number and give Nina the official lock. When Jackie gets the chosen cart, she dumps some bills from the cart into a trash can before taking the cart to Nina, who then uses Bridget's key to open it and restores the official lock, and then proceeds to shred the remaining bills. Meanwhile, Bridget, in the course of her janitorial duties, retrieves the dumped bills from the trash and splits them among Nina and Jackie in the women's restroom.
Their first robbery is a success though the take is not as big as they had hoped. However, they're emboldened to do it repeatedly. Once Don and Bridget pay off their debt, Don suggests they stop before they get caught. Bridget rejects this idea and persuades Nina and Jackie to keep going. They almost get caught but they end up cutting in Barry, one of the security guards, who is attracted to Nina.
A Federal Bank Examiner shows up at a party at Bridget's house, and the next day Bridget sees him at work. The Examiner confronts Glover (Stephen Root
Stephen Root
Stephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
), who is unwilling to admit anyone has stolen a single bill out of his bank as a matter of professional pride. Tipped off, that night Bridget and her accomplices begin trying to get rid of all the loot stashed in their houses, but the cops move in before all the evidence is destroyed. Bridget escapes but the others get caught.
Bridget hires a tax attorney to defend them. The lawyer gets Bridget and all her accomplices off the hook for their crimes, because neither the law enforcement, nor the examiner can prove that the large stash of cash in their homes came from the Federal Reserve Bank. Technically, it isn't illegal to have a couple hundred thousand dollars in cash lying around inside a private residence. However, they spent a large sum of that stolen cash to buy expensive objects and improvements on their houses, and did not pay the taxes for them because they couldn't justify the income. The IRS demands they pay their taxes, which turn out to be equal in amount to the money that still remains.
Eight months later, Bridget reveals to Nina and Jackie that she had stashed away much of the stolen money in the basement of a friend's bar.
Cast
- Diane KeatonDiane KeatonDiane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
as Bridget Cardigan - Queen LatifahQueen LatifahDana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
as Nina Brewster - Katie HolmesKatie HolmesKatherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
as Jackie Truman - Ted DansonTed DansonEdward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He also plays a recurring role on Larry David's HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close...
as Don Cardigan - Roger CrossRoger CrossRoger Cross is a Canadian contemporary actor who has made numerous appearances in several movies and TV series, mostly on productions shot in Canada...
as Barry - Adam RothenbergAdam RothenbergAdam Rothenberg is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Rothenberg was born in Tenafly, New Jersey. He is of Jewish ancestry on his father's side and has six siblings.-Career:...
as Bob Truman - Stephen RootStephen RootStephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
as Glover - J.C. MacKenzieJ. C. MacKenzieJ. C. MacKenzie is a Canadian actor.MacKenzie saw his first play as a 21-year-old student at Concordia University. After that, he was accepted at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He made his screen debut in the TV-movie Perry Mason Returns, billed as John C. McKenzie...
as Mandelbrot - Christopher McDonaldChristopher McDonaldChristopher McDonald is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore, Tappy Tibbons in Requiem for a Dream, and Mel Allen in the HBO film 61*.-Personal life:...
as Bryce Arbogast - Finesse MitchellFinesse MitchellAlfred Langston "Finesse" Mitchell is an American actor, author and stand-up comedian. From 2003-2006, he was a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Mitchell has also appeared on such television shows as Showtime at the Apollo, BET's ComicView, Comedy Central Presents and NBC's Late Friday.-Life...
as Shaun - Bryan MasseyBryan MasseyBryan Massey is an American actor and writer. He also works frequently as a voice actor with Funimation. He currently resides in his hometown of Dallas, Texas with his wife and daughter.-Anime Roles:* Baccano! - Ladd Russo...
as Detective Brinkley
Original U.K. version
The original U.K. version produced by Granada Television, Hot MoneyHot Money
-Plot:The drama tells the story of three workers at the Bank of England incinerating plant in Essex. The trio, led by Bridget , hatch a plan to steal thousands of pounds by stashing the notes in their underwear.-Cast:-Production:...
(2001), tells the story of three women, Bridget, Liz and Jackie, who embarked on a plan to steal thousands of pounds of banknotes that were due to be destroyed at the Bank of England's incinerating plant in Essex. Fictionalised account of a real-life case.
Critical reception
Mad Money received generally negative reviews from film critics. As of January 21, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film has received a "rotten" rating of 20%, based on 93 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 41 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film a rating of one and a half stars, and wrote, "The bottom line is, some girls will like it, the men not so much." The film also received one and a half stars in a review in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, and Michael Phillips wrote that the film's cast was not to blame: "Do not blame the cast. The cast is game. The dreary visual scheme, however, combines unwell with the pokey, enervated rhythm of the heist scenes, and while I'm neither a medical doctor nor a script doctor, it seems this film could use a few uppers."
The film received three stars in Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, and Jan Stuart wrote "Mad Money is no Rififi
Rififi
Rififi is a 1955 French crime film adaptation of Auguste le Breton's novel of the same name. Directed by American filmmaker Jules Dassin, the film stars Jean Servais as the aging gangster Tony le Stéphanois, Carl Möhner as Jo le Suédois, Robert Manuel as Mario Farrati, and Jules Dassin as César le...
, but Khouri and Gers invest it with an individuality and generosity of spirit that lift it into the realm of guiltless pleasure." Bill Wine of All Headline News gave the film two and a half stars, writing "Mad Money is a light and lively, likable low-tech lark. Don't expect big laughs, but you can at least bank on it to hold your interest." The Canadian Press gave the film one and a half stars, and criticized Katie Holmes
Katie Holmes
Katherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
also criticized Katie Holmes
In an article in the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
titled "Don't waste your Mad Money on poor comedy", Stephen Schaefer gave the film a rating of "C", writing "Even with the legendary Diane Keaton center stage, Mad Money fails to hit the stratosphere of giddy, intoxicating comedy." The film received a critical review in from Claudia Puig in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
"This lifeless comedy and uninventive caper feels as if it were cobbled together at a studio's obligatory consciousness-raising diversity seminar."
The film scored a third place in the NY Post's Top 10 Worst Movies of 2008 overview
This film also scored an eighth place in At the Movies' Ben Lyons' Top 10 Worst Movies of 2008.
Box office results
The film debuted in fifth place at the box office on its opening day in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with a return of USD$2.3 million from 2,470 screens. Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
referred to this return as a "modest" result for the film's opening day. By the end of its opening weekend, Mad Money had slipped to seventh place, with a weekend take of $7.7 million. Writing for Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, Gitesh Pandya noted that the opening weekend per theater revenue "averaged a not-so-impressive $3,126." amNewYork called the film's opening weekend return "a big flop at the box office," and the New Zealand Herald described it as "a box-office flop". Richard Johnson of the New York Post wrote that the movie "bombed, debuting at an abysmal seventh place on the box-office charts." The film's four-day take was a dismal $9.2 million. The film also did not fare well in its release in other countries, and Conor Bresnan of Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
reported that "Mad Money bombed in its first two markets" overseas. With an estimated budget of $22 million, the film had broken even by the time it came off theaters.
DVD release
Mad Money was released on DVD May 13, 2008.In the DVD director's commentary, director Callie Khouri credits producer Jay Cohen as having brought her the British movie he had obtained rights to called Hot Money.
Hot Money is based on the true story of a group of women who worked at the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
and, over an unknown period, removed an unknown amount of money that was supposed to be destroyed. No one except these women know the exact details of the theft. Callie Khouri and Jay Cohen worked 5 years to bring a deliberately Americanized version of Hot Money to the screen as Mad Money using various writers. Both Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah were attached early on to the project and writers began designing the characters specifically around the two actresses.