Mad Money: A Waste of 104 Minutes of Your Life

Bridget and Don (Diane Keaton and Ted Danson) have a nice life. He has a well-paying corporate job and she's a stay-at-home mother. All of that changes when Don loses his job and Bridget is forced to look for work. After years of living the cushy life, Bridget discovers she's practically un-employable and can only find a job as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank: the very bank that holds all the old, worn-out currency awaiting destruction.

It's here she meets fellow employees Nina (Queen Latifah) and Jackie (Katie Holmes), a single mom and a happy-go-lucky young woman. Each woman wants something more than scratching out a living in a dead end job. Bridget dreams of returning to her comfortable life and ensuring it stays that way. Nina wants to get her kids out of the dangerous ghetto they live in and into a good school and safe neighborhood. Jackie, on the other hand, just wants plenty of money to have fun and do whatever she likes. After watching untold amounts of wealth get destroyed, the unlikely trio of friends decides they want their share and plan a robbery.

Amazingly, they actually manage to pull it off and walk out with a small fortune. However, their windfall isn't enough and they go back and take more doomed cash. As a matter of fact, they return several times, each amassing a tidy sum. All the while, they debate among themselves and their families, trying to decide when enough is enough. One slip-up is all it takes to jeopardize everything and the women soon find themselves stretched to the limit trying to avoid the police and very long prison terms.

Mad Money attempts to create a classic heist film but really winds up as something closer to an un-exciting comedy. The robbery itself is watered-down and an over-simplistic and most of the movie is spent watching how the girls and their families deal with their new wealth. I would have enjoyed this film if more attention was given to the actually planning and robbery.

This movie doesn't attempt to be a blockbuster. It doesn't even try to be a hit. This slightly bland comedy is simply a way to waste 104 minutes of your life. While the three main actresses all turn in competent performances, but it still isn't enough to turn this film into anything memorable. The only truly funny thing about this rated PG-13 film is that it's based on actual events. If there isn't anything better to do, you can watch this film and you won't be too disappointed, but I wouldn't make a special trip just to see it.