Mad Money Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Mad Money Blu-ray Movie Review

Is 'Mad Money' worth you hard-earned dollar?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 23, 2009

Wanting is the root of all needing stuff.

Here's a perfect example of a movie that's of the see-it-and-forget-it variety. Neither a total waste of time nor worthy of praise and recognition, Mad Money is the sort of film that floats along innocently enough, makes a few dollars here and there off of theatrical screenings, rentals, and purchases, all fueled by its pseudo-star power and halfway interesting premise that, for the most part, delivers what's advertised. When it's over, it likely to engender neither contempt nor praise from its audience; everything about the movie screams "average," and it offers no single compelling reason to watch it again, mostly due to its terribly predictable nature that draws on every heist movie cliché in the book. Still, it's competently acted, proficiently directed, and written and paced just well enough to allow viewers to make it through to the end without much of a strain. Indeed, Mad Money makes for a mostly agreeable way to kill 104 minutes; with the right set of expectations, it delivers exactly what's expected of it and with a technical professionalism that makes the story seem just a bit better than it really is and deserves to be.

The most dangerous game.

Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton, Reds) and husband Don (Ted Danson, Body Heat) are a couple on the ropes; Don's been out of a job for a year, Bridget has worked as a homemaker, and the family's in almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars in debt. Desperate to stay afloat, Bridget takes a small-time job with a big-time opportunity. Finding gainful employment as a janitor at the Federal Reserve, the college-educated woman slowly begins to devise a scheme to steal money deemed too worn down to remain in circulation. It's shredded on-site by Nina Brewster (Queen Latifah, Last Holiday), a working mother of two young boys for whom she wants only the best. Over time, Bridget convinces Nina to get in on the plan, and they need only one more person -- a young girl named Jackie Truman (Katie Holmes, Batman Begins) whose job is to take the money in locked containers down to Nina in the shredding room -- to make the plan airtight and foolproof. Of course, it works -- too well. The girls find themselves with more money than they can handle, and as the dough piles up, so too do the number of people involved in the scheme, a problem that can mean only one thing: more opportunity for something to go wrong.

All things considered, Mad Money is a fairly entertaining little movie. Sure, it's as predictable as they come with the obligatory series of heist movie events -- the planning stage, the assemblage of the team stage, the goofy glances as the plan falls into motion stage, the execution of the plan stage, the greed stage, the cop hot on the trail stage, the "oh no we're going to get caught!" stage, and the happily ever after ending -- but there's an underlying charm in Director Callie Khouri's (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) approach that makes the movie work in spite of itself. Though the film suffers from a terribly bland visual scheme -- dull backgrounds, lackluster locations, a general lack of eye-catching color, and one of filmdom's most uninspired wardrobe collections of all-time -- the movie's spunky spirit and the happy-go-lucky attitude of its cast make it seem a bit more cheerful than its palette and decor might otherwise suggest. Mad Money banks heavily on its soundtrack; nary a scene seems to go by where the film isn't prancing around with some generic tense-yet-easygoing sort of music accompanying the many heist montages scattered about the film. Then again, it does fit right in with the mostly stale plot line but cheerful execution that proves to be Mad Money's saving grace.

The sort of movie that's primed to become something of a guilty pleasure for some, Mad Money allows its audience to live vicariously through its characters; after all, who wouldn't want to save some poor little $1, $5, $10, $20, and $50 bills from the painful and humiliating fate of the shredder's sharpened teeth? Fortunately, the film refrains from an overzealous amount of spending-spree montages. There's the obligatory purchase of a diamond ring and a flame-painted motorcycle, but where the film could have fallen into the trap of spending half its time at the mall as its characters walk through an artificial breeze in slow motion, all dressed in identical outfits and carrying a handful of trendy boutique shopping bags with a huge grin on their faces, it instead actually aspires to play things smart, to devise a halfway plausible plan of identifying the source of the money and spending it wisely so as not to draw attention to the sudden influx of cash. The fact that the movie doesn't completely pander to its audience is another plus, and while the scheme probably wouldn't even come close to working in the real world, it's at least somewhat gratifying to see the little guy come out on top for once, and Mad Money delivers that form of escapist entertainment well enough.

Mad Money Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mad Money features a fair if not somewhat pedestrian 1080p, 2.39:1-framed transfer. Neither the sharpest nor the most highly detailed transfer on the market, it nevertheless offers a suitably good, eye-pleasing 104 minutes of high definition imagery. There's something of an aura to the movie; many scenes seems aglow, a bit overly bright, and such scenes tend to slightly wash out color and detail. As noted earlier, Mad Money features a terribly bland visual scheme with plenty of monochromatic clothes and backgrounds; the locations are dull and visually unappealing to begin with, and the transfer reflects this monotony. It renders the fine details as well as can be expected, but there's not a single frame of the movie that even threatens to jump off the screen with either eye-popping color or amazing detail and texture. Colors are reproduced with a mostly natural appearance that preserves the overall integrity of the image. Boasting adequate black levels and skin tones and a layer of film grain, Mad Money makes for something of an average, visually uninteresting, but not overtly problematic 1080p Blu-ray transfer.

Mad Money Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mad Money delivers a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack that's not exactly going to shred up the speakers. A bland and wholly unappealing audio presentation, Mad Money delivers the basics but goes no further than required of it to get the job done. A dialogue-heavy Comedy/Heist/Drama, the spoken word is consistently delivered with the crispness and clarity expected of a good lossless soundtrack. The film does feature plenty of music, but there's nothing especially enticing about its presentation. Adequately clear, it plays across the front with no discernible issues but without much of an attention-grabbing presentation. The track delivers a small amount of bass in a few shots, and it features a subtle background ambience in a few bar and restaurant scenes, but generally, the rear speakers are afforded an off-day with this one. There's nothing inherently wrong with Mad Money's soundtrack; it's just bland and boring by design.

Mad Money Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Mad Money contains several extra features, the packaged headlined by Director Callie Khouri's commentary track. A rather unenthusiastic track, Khouri covers the expected commentary topics, including how the project evolved, the timely nature of the script, the style of comedy found in the film, the performances of the cast, her preference for crafting the films sans physical violence, and more. Makin' Money: Behind the Scenes of 'Mad Money' (1080i, 9:12) takes a generic glimpse behind-the-scenes, featuring footage from the set, cast and crew interview snippets, and a collection of brief scenes from the film. Rounding out this brief supplemental section is a collection of alternate and deleted scenes (1080i, 10:13) and the film's theatrical trailer (1080i, 2:17).

Mad Money Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A passable and surprisingly entertaining little picture, Mad Money is no great shakes but it plays out with a hearty and energetic spirit that elevates it several notches above where it would otherwise reside. With an enthusiastic cast, steady direction, and a solid pace, Mad Money overcomes its many little deficiencies to make for a passable time killer as a solid slice of escapism entertainment. This Blu-ray release from Starz, like the movie, is nothing to brag about but it gets the job done. Featuring a decent 1080p presentation, a fair lossless soundtrack, and a few extras, Mad Money makes for a smart weekend rental.