"Mad Money" (2008) - Movie Review

The failure of “Mad Money” is that the one of the ladies, Bridget (Diane Keaton) is seriously flawed in character and credibility. I am not dismissing based on moral issues but her as such in the character pulling off an incredible long term heist which she is not capable of. All her life she appears to have been good at very few things, raising kids and spending money. Her drive is dire financial needs but she turns out to be a wicked greedy witch than a skillful artful stealer or a normal person caught up in the cobwebs of conscience and morality.

The reason we like the con artists or heist key players in films is their honesty in accepting their trade. They know the play and they know every single bit of consequences, they register them in us where we are in a point in the film to trust everything they would have done, not because of feasibility but due to the sheer joy of them winning over. While we vouch for the Ocean’s crew in the “Ocean’s Eleven”, how come a regular three people who are in the shoes of stealers wants us to get them caught?

Bridget doomed into near bankruptcy situation with her husband Don (Ted Danson) laid off, she goes for a janitor job in the Federal Reserve. She sees the worn out money destroyed and decides to steal it. And I liked the whole pull off, very simple, neat and clean even though one wonders the locks are easily available for them to replace in a local store. But we are still in the mode of liking these characters and hence we shove it off our brain. She chooses two other ladies, Jackie (Katie Holmes) and a single mother Nina (Queen Latifah).

Jackie is the trump card of uncertainty for the film and they do not bring her to full potential. Nina of course will be the one to swing by the correct decision to not be involved but a simple brochure by Bridget about sophisticated school education for her kids is good enough to be in the plan. Everything goes perfect and I was thinking they have something here. It’s a shame while the film never bores it feels wrong every nick of time Bridget opens her mouth. We want her to be caught and suffer even though every one else is to be blamed too. The problem is that she is given as this clumsy and comic aged woman who has some crazy reason to take it on even after their needs are solved.

I tend to take a moral stand in many movies and I have managed to take it out of the equation for a film which fondles it for the reason of moving forward the script. Otherwise I guess we would not watch heist movies and want them to succeed. The film nearly had me for good part of it even when there will be an every opportunity of proper judgment one out of many characters in this act. Bridget does it so easy that we seriously doubt her how she managed to survive in this world without a criminal record. Because at a point when every one wants out, she wants it to be going on and on, where we are confused on her behaviour based on greed or passion? “Do you know to do anything at all?” asks one of the characters to Bridget at the start of the film. She has been spoon fed into a luxurious environment where when it is taken, she realize that her brain has been in freezer for quite a long time. And we never get to see her reasoning at all till the end.

It could have been taken as one hell of a serious drama/thriller if the appropriate part of the screenplay had a run through. Almost every one Bridget making her accomplice are easily convinced and we know Bridget is not a good marketing specialist.

Director Callie Khouri had a good premise and a story too. I expected nothing solid out of this movie as it is sheer entertainment but when they are out there talking the senses of practicality and at times taking it seriously, we are in for some explanation which we never get. Money is tempting, no doubt and the obsession is what drives Bridget ad there is no indication of it. There is a reason we love Daniel Ocean and hate Bridget. Both trade souls with their own devils but Ocean does not pretend to be an angel.