MONEY FOR NOTHING
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
[This is one of my golden oldies reviews - written years
ago when I was just getting started and never posted.
I stand by the conclusions, but in most cases many details
are missing that I would normally include today.]
After walking out on UNDERCOVER BLUES, we then went next door to see MONEY FOR NOTHING with John Cusack.
The plot of MONEY FOR NOTHING was interesting. This poor loser type named Joey Coyle and played by John Cusack sees $1.2 million fall out of the back of an armored truck. He takes the money and then does every stupid thing possible to let people figure out he was the one who found it. Sounds pretty unrealistic right? Well, read on.
The fascination is Joey's stupidity and the fact that it was a true story. Yes, truth is stranger than fiction as they say. That this story is true is the hook that kept us watching.
The problem with MONEY FOR NOTHING isn't the script or the plot, it is that the acting by Cusack, Debi Mazar, Michael Madsen, and Benicio Del Toro and the directing by Ramon Menendez which was all plodding. I give it 2 stars because the story was interesting enough even if the movie wasn't very good.
I do not recommend you see it. Oh well, it could have been worse. We could have stayed to see all of the disgusting UNDERCOVER BLUES.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: September 29, 1993
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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