Review of Mad Money (2008) by Ashley S — 06 Jun 2009

Watching any Diane Keaton in any film at this point feels like a highly painful experience; granted on rare occasion she has still pulled out a strong performance in a decent film ("Something's Gotta Give" comes to mind), but far too often she has agreed to be a part of some truly horrid pieces of film. Sadly,"Mad Money" may be one of her worst efforts, and it was a depressing sight to behold.

Granted, Keaton is not the only central figure in the film. It is actually the story of a trio of women (Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes) who pull off a series of robberies at the bank they work at, but find their greed is insatiable and out of control. Now, it would be fair to place all the blame on this film squarely on Keaton; Holmes plays the worst character in the film as a dumb hip-hop dancing diabetic (that description alone should warrant viewers to steer clear), and Latifah's arc is also quite dull. But both Holmes and Latifah have thus far only amassed a modicum of the critical acclaim Keaton wields. I mean seriously, this is Annie Hall we are talking about! This is Kay Corleone from the Godfather series! This is the woman we fell in love with in some of Woody Allen's greatest films! And where is she now? Starring in the worst example of a robbery/heist film with a robbery plot that is lame and an ending that pretty much negates the entire message that the film tried to build for its running length. I don't have an agenda against chick flicks, and I do think many of them are quite good (and this film was obviously targeted for that audience), but those looking for a good female-centric film will be justly bored and insulted by this film.

And those looking for a great heist/robbery film? This is the absolute LAST place you should be looking. Check out "Dog Day Afternoon", "Heat", or "Reservoir Dogs", but for your sake stay far away from this film.