'Mad Money' Movie

Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes are co-conspirators in a scheme to steal cash from a bank in “Mad Money.”

Watch the trailer: http://movies.aol.com/movie/mad-money/29986/main

Mad Money was better than the reviews. It's not a great comedy but it hits its mark. Three women from various backgrounds and working at the Federal Reserve decide to steal old worn-out money ready for shredding. Diane Keaton is the brains who concocts the plan and enlists Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes (Mrs. Tom Cruise) who also want to rise above their economic plight. Ted Danson plays Keaton's uptight husband who opposes their scheme but eventually gives into temptation and assists them

 

This movie won't give people living on hard times any ideas because I doubt the premise can be repeated. However you get to see the characters' frustrations that led up to their decision.  Keaton, a college graduate with no sellable skills in the job market, is reduced to janitorial work. Latifah, a single mom, wants a better life for her children and succumbs to the thievery. Holmes plays a goofball who wants to travel and is aided by her equally goofy boyfriend in their plan. She's does a likable job with her sketchy character; the other female leads overshadow her but that's because of the script.

 

Will they succeed won't be revealed here. Keaton is the center of this film with Latifah a close second while the rest of the admirable cast orbits around her star. You can almost read her thoughts as she struggles to keep her partners from backing out of her plan and makes mincemeat of those who oppose her. She commands every one of her scenes. We're not supposed to cheer for people who steal but you can't help it because of these appealing characters. This reminds me of the moral dilemma of another Keaton film of years ago. In The Godfather, we cheered for the Corleones who were the 'good' bad guys as they struck down their opponents, the 'bad' bad guys.  This time she's a comic version of her husband Michael Corleone and has learned her lessons well from that master crafter.