Mad Money
Rated PG-13
1 Star Out of 4

Diane Keaton, the star of director Callie Khouri’s Mad Money, is one remarkably resilient actress. She was Woody Allen’s sweetheart in eight films and Kay Corleone in the Godfather films in her early career, the kooky mom in the Father of the Bride films, and more recently Oscar nominated in Something’s Gotta Give. That said, not even her comic skills can save the lame comedy Mad Money, a film that tries to be a working class caper film and a carefree chick flick.

Mad Money tells the story of three working class women who work for the Kansas City Federal Reserve and devise a plan to steal the worn money that they recycle on a daily basis. Bridget (Keaton) is a former middle class wife whose husband (Ted Danson) was laid off and is now buried in a mountain of debt, Nina (Queen Latifah) is a single mom with two young boys, and Jackie (Katie Holmes) is a ditzy trailer court type who lives with her boyfriend. While this seems like a feeble attempt by former screenwriter Khouri to return to her Oscar winning formula of “girls fighting the system” of Thelma and Louise, this story has only minimal comedic appeal, very few laughs, and almost no suspense necessary for an effective caper/heist film.

From start to finish screenwriter Glenn Gers contrives the most implausible situations for the film’s heroines. Even though the Federal Reserve Bank is thoroughly protected, the women manage to plan and conceal their loot in the women’s bathroom, which is completely void of peering eyes. One day a security guard miraculously discovers the women’s plan and this is never explained; then out of left field, Gers provides a requisite happy ending. The team of Keaton, Latifah and Holmes provides moments of silly fun, but the film’s comic pace is too casual and slow.

Don’t waste any of your money, mad or other, on this poorly made film.