MONEY FOR NOTHING
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 5.0
Date Released: 9/10/93 Running Length: 1:40 Rated: R (Nudity, sex, language)
Starring: John Cusack, Debi Mazar, Michael Madsen,
Benicio Del Tauro, Maury Chaykin
Director: Ramon Menendez
Producer: Tom Musca
Screenplay: Tom Musca, Ramon Menendez, and Carol Sobieski
Music: Craig Safan
Released by Hollywood Pictures
For those who live in and around Philadelphia, Joey Coyle is a local legend--a dockworker who came to be known and loved by a city of blue-collar toilers who forever root for the underdog (witness their infatuation with several perennial sub-.500 sports teams). Overnight, Coyle went from a nobody to a folkhero by not doing the right thing, an action (or lack thereof) of which everyone seemed to approve. After all, what would you do if, driving down the road one day, you came upon two unattended sacks of money containing 1.2 million dollars?
MONEY FOR NOTHING tells a Hollywood version of Coyle's story, judiciously editing his life to make him more appealing to the masses (there is no mention of drug use), and to make the five days following his discovery more entertaining. The film starts with Coyle (John Cusack) discovering the money, inadvertently dropped off the back of an armored car, and follows his life for the next few days as he hides some of the cash, throws some of it away, and tries to launder the rest. Of course, he's also trying to keep his good fortune a secret, because by not returning his find, he's guilty of a felony. Along for the ride in MONEY FOR NOTHING are Benicio Del Tauro as Joey's connection to the underworld, Maury Chaykin as the launderer, Michael Madsen as Laurenzi, the cop on the trail of the missing money, and Debi Mazar as Monica Russo, Joey's girlfriend.
Basically, the problem with this film is that it lacks the substance to keep it going for one-hundred minutes. In fact, it's debatable whether there's enough meat in the story for something half that length. Instead of a wistful fantasy about what someone could do with this much money, we get a plodding drama that takes a few stabs at comedy, not many of which work (although there is a nice bit where Maury Chaykin comments that the reason Ben Franklin's is the only smiling face on U.S. currency is because he never became President).
Distilled to its essence, the plot of MONEY FOR NOTHING can be described in two or three lines, so it's immediately suspicious that the film makers managed to milk a full-length feature out of the Joey Coyle story. The result is probably no better--or worse--than most prospective viewers would expect. Take away the profanity and the scene with Joey and Monica rolling around naked on a bedspread covered with $100 bills, and you get something that looks suspiciously like a made-for-TV movie.
If there's a reason to see MONEY FOR NOTHING, it's for the supercharged performance of John Cusack, who takes his role to the hilt without ever going over-the-top. Cusack starts out pretty low key, but as the burden of dealing with the money (coupled with a lack of sleep) gets to Joey, the actor brings to the fore a manic quality that makes the eventual outcome of the Coyle case believable. In the end, Joey was acquitted of his crimes on the grounds that he was temporarily insane.
Michael Madsen is present with his characteristic unemotional demeanor. While this style has often been a plus (in RESERVOIR DOGS, for example), it doesn't work in MONEY FOR NOTHING, and Madsen's Laurenzi comes off as a non-entity. Debi Mazar, doing her best Marisa Tomei impression, isn't particularly memorable as Monica (a fictional character who functions as a compilation of several real-life people).
There is a tragic, unfilmed epilogue to the Coyle story that those outside of Philadelphia may be unaware of. One month ago, even as he claimed to be eagerly awaiting the release of this movie, Coyle committed suicide. Depression brought on by drug use and the breakup of a relationship were cited as the reasons. These sad, off-screen events make an unimpressive film seem even flatter.
There's nothing horrible about MONEY FOR NOTHING. It has a story to tell, and it accomplishes that aim, albeit in a workmanlike fashion. However, with everything being so straightforward and unremarkable, I can't say it's worth the time or money. And for those Philadelphians going to catch a glimpse of their city on film, they should be warned that even though there are a few shots of familiar places, the bulk of the movie, while supposedly taking place on the streets of the City of Brotherly Love, was actually filmed in Pittsburgh.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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