Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Money Plane Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 20, 2021

Unlike a lot of bottom shelf actioners, “Money Plane” actually has a promising premise. It takes viewers to a casino in the sky where anything goes involving the worst people on Earth, giving them a free space to indulge their awfulness in games of skill and chance. Writers Tim Schaaf and Andrew Lawrence (who also directs) provide a solid reason to track such unrepentant ugliness, which retains a delicious camp factor, but they’re mostly interested in following heist movie formula, aiming for suspense that never emerges. There’s a circus there for the taking, but “Money Plane” plays it safe, delivering familiar beats of intimidation and brutality, trying to wow viewers with twists and turns when they might be better off with a blunt study of evildoers taking to the sky to make a fortune.

Jack (Adam Copeland) is an ex-gambling addict who’s in deep with Grouch (Kelsey Grammer), unable to pull off the theft of a valuable painting when his plan to infiltrate a museum is thwarted. Grouch wants revenge for the botched mission, ordering Jack to go undercover as a human trafficker and take part in the Money Plane, an underworld casino that deals with high-rolling clients involved in wicked business, giving them a chance to play extreme wagering games. Agreeing to the job, trying to protect his wife (Denise Richards) and their young daughter, Jack reunites with his team, making a plan with Isabella (Katrina Norman), Trey (Patrick Lamont Jr.), and Iggy (Andre Lawrence) to break into the plane’s server room and steal a billion dollars in cryptocurrency. Entering an airplane filled with tight rules and bad people, Jack works carefully to maintain his cover, receiving help from his best friend, Harry (Thomas Jane), who remains on the ground to protect the thief’s loved ones from Grouch’s unpredictable ways.

Lawrence doesn’t have a decent budget to bring “Money Plane” to life, dealing mostly with tight spaces and cloth backdrops to support Jack’s adventures in theft. Other productions would try to dazzle viewers with slick locations and mighty acts of violence, but the helmer gets by on some closet spaces and a shootout where the participants are basically at point-blank range, but can’t manage to hit one another. There’s not much of a wow factor, with Grammer in charge of bringing some rehearsed thunder to the role of Grouch, an ill-tempered crime boss who’s ready to slaughter Jack’s family if he doesn’t comply with the Money Plane idea. The screenplay spends a little time with Jack and his loved ones, and establishes Harry, a guy with all the contacts (and things to do with his hands, with Jane sucking on a pipe early in the feature), supporting his buddy through dark times of personal vices and Grouch subservience, stopping just short of reminding his pal that he’s intentionally endangering everyone with his poor life choices.

Armed with new identities and specialized jobs, Jack and the team board the Money Plane, which is managed by The Concierge (Joey Lawrence), who details the organization’s zero-tolerance policy for cheating (spoiler alert: it involves a gun). He welcomes a small collection of gangsters to the airplane, including Vitali (Aleksander Vayshelboym), a ruthless arms dealer, while Jack plays the part of a heinous human trafficker. With Isabella posing as a flight attendant and Trey becoming Jack’s right-hand man (Iggy stays on the ground, dealing with technical issues), the plan gets underway, with the thief reunited with the addiction that nearly ruined his life. However, the writing doesn’t pull at this thread, and it doesn’t have much use for Copeland, who eventually checks out of a poker game and takes over the cockpit, flying the plane into cryptocurrency transfer position. The real stars of “Money Plane” are Norman, with Isabella fighting lecherous creeps in the bowels of the plane, and Lamont Jr., with Trey taking Jack’s place as a gambler, soon graduating from cards to Russian Roulette, also betting on the survival time of innocents fighting snakes and piranhas.

Money Plane Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation leads with color, as the low-budget movie doesn't have much else to offer viewers. Primaries are very bright, emerging from lighting sources and costuming, with reds running especially hot. Gambling additions, such as cocktails and green felt handle with deep hues, along with heavy makeup on the actors. Detail is strong with close-ups, picking up on skin particulars and age, and outfits remains fibrous. Money Plane decorations are appreciable. Unfortunately, artifacting is common, with blocky backgrounds and banding (the feature is squeezed into a 15 GB file). Delineation is acceptable. Source is in good condition.

Money Plane Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Again, there was very little cash spent to make "Money Plane," and the 5.1 Dolby Digital mix reflects a production that wasn't too concerned about exact details. Dialogue exchanges are acceptable, capturing varied dramatic abilities amongst the cast. ADR gets weird at the 43:46 mark, with lines from Joey Lawrence sounding like they were recorded at the last minute inside his bathroom. Music doesn't command as expected, with a few electropop selections finding authority (adding some low-end beat), while the rest of the score is dialed way down, especially the end credits. Sound effects are also strange, with some scenes maintaining expected snap with gunfire and thumpy punches, while other charged moments (especially the glass breakage at the 62:30 mark) have no presence.

Money Plane Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Trailer (2:02, HD) is included.

Money Plane Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Trey's subplot is the highlight of "Money Plane," with the frightened character suddenly confronted with a winning streak as the games get deadlier. Unfortunately, the screenplay doesn't follow insanity on the Money Plane long enough, always going back to the heist elements of the plot, which aren't interesting. Lawrence could make a whole movie exploring the debauchery of the flight, managing absurdity with cartoonish participants (Matthew Lawrence cameos as a deranged Texan), but he's committed to the action, and there's not enough production money to deliver necessary scale. "Money Plane" doesn't deliver where it counts the most, but there's an idea here that holds potential, gifting the endeavor an entertaining dark side.