Mad Money DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Keaton, Katie and the Queen Team for Madcap Crime Caper

A year after her husband (Ted Danson) was laid-off due to downsizing, Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is shocked to learn that they are in debt and on the verge of losing their home and the lavish lifestyle to which she had become quite accustomed. In desperation, the once-pampered housewife finds herself having to enter the labor market. But without any skills or experience, the only job she can find is as a janitor inside the Federal Reserve in the department responsible for the disposing of old dollars about to be taken out of circulation.

On her first day of work, she appraises the situation and comes up with the bright idea of sneaking a small fortune out of the place, even though the airtight building is equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance devices monitored by the ever vigilant Mr. Glover (Stephen Root). In need of accomplices to pull off the heist, she approaches Jackie (Katie Holmes), whose task involves carting the currency, and Nina (Queen Latifah), who actually puts the money through the shredder.

She entices these initially reluctant co-workers by rationalizing that they’ll merely be recycling, not really stealing any money. Single-mom Nina agrees since she is raising a couple of young sons she can’t afford to get out of the ghetto, while free spirit Jackie goes along because she has nothing to lose.

The felonious-minded threesome proceeds to hatch a seemingly foolproof plan whereby Bridget will retrieve cash tossed into the trash by Jackie just before it reaches Nina in the shredding room. There’s still the little matter of getting the loot past the guards who routinely subject everyone exiting the bank to thorough body searches.

Fortunately, one of them (Roger Cross) has a crush on Bridget, and he can be depended upon to look the other way when inspecting her unusually hard and suddenly rectangular breasts. Provided you can get past its improbable premise and groan-inducing plot twists, this madcap crime caper’s trio of talented leading ladies manage to provide enough moments of mirth to make the rest of this raucous romp worthwhile.

Who knew ripping off the Federal Reserve could be so much fun?

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality and drug references.
Running time: 103 minutes
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
DVD Extras: Director’s commentary, a “Behind-the-Scenes” featurette, and a theatrical trailer.