COMEDY
Bridget Cardigan (Keaton), a pampered housewife, takes a job as a cleaning lady at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City after her husband (Ted Danson) loses his fancy corporate job. Soon she discovers an extracurricular sideline: helping herself to old cash scheduled for shredding. "It's not really like stealing," she explains primly, "it's more like recycling."
Keaton is the primary reason—and reason enough—to see Mad Money, a cheerful, scrappy caper comedy that is eager to please and does just that. Her Bridget becomes positively giddy, and a little greedy, once she figures out the weak spot in the bank's security system, and recruits two coworkers (Latifah and Holmes) to be her partners-in-crime. Soon all three are stuffing piles of cash into their bras and panties. ("I'll bet Victoria never had this particular secret," Bridget wisecracks, busily cramming bills inside her shirt.)
Reaching into her bag of reliable tics—nervous fidgeting, grimacing, flicking hair off her face, etc.—Keaton makes Bridget almost scary in her enthusiastic embrace of crime. She and Latifah have a strong rapport, and Danson is amusing as Bridget's helpful spouse. Holmes, stuck in the underwritten role of a young ditz, would be in danger of fading into the wallpaper if she wasn't so strikingly tall.
Michael Stahl-David, Jessica Lucas | PG-13
MONSTER-ON-THE-LOOSE
Producer J.J. Abrams (Lost) fed the hype by keeping his creature feature under wraps. Here's a cheat sheet:
The plot: Bland twentysomethings gather for a party. It's cut short when an angry giant monster begins destroying Manhattan.
The gimmick: The whole film is composed of footage supposedly shot by a main character using a camcorder. (Think The Blair Witch Project; you may experience motion sickness.)
Gasp-worthy moment: The Statue of Liberty's decapitated head, lying on the street.
Final call: Delivers chills early on, but the lackluster characters are inarticulate and the obvious 9/11 references (people covered in ash, downtown Manhattan destroyed) seem disturbingly exploitative.
Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson | PG-13 |
CRIME
The Cassandra's Dream of the title is a small boat purchased by two British brothers (McGregor and Farrell) who see it as a symbol of their hoped-for entry into the good life. But anyone even glancingly familiar with Greek mythology knows that Cassandra was the seer whose predictions of doom fell on deaf ears. The brothers, in need of cash, commit a murder for money. Afterward, one of them is plagued by guilt and begins to unravel. It's territory writer-director Woody Allen has explored before, most notably in 1989's Crimes and Misdemeanors and in 2005's Match Point. The cast is in there pitching, but Cassandra's Dream has a listless, already-chewed feel. The characters seem like doll figures being moved around a giant board by Allen for all too obvious reasons.
SAG AWARDS
Film and TV veteran Durning is "the best American actor we have," says Burt Reynolds of his friend and frequent costar, who will receive the Life Achievement honor at the Jan. 27 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The actor, 84, spoke with PEOPLE's Champ Clark about his most memorable castmates.
Burt Reynolds, TV's Evening Shade (1990-1994) We liked each other instinctively from our very first film together [Starting Over]. I asked Burt, "What is acting?" and he said, "Listening. If you're not listening, the audience isn't listening. You've got to make them care." That to me is what acting is, and Burt told me that.
Robert Redford, The Sting (1973) He and Paul Newman were funny with each other, and they accepted you. Robert Redford had his land in Utah. He said, "This is going to jump, Charlie, you should buy some of this here." Of course I didn't listen to him, and it turned into a gold mine. I could have bought it for nothing at the time!
Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie (1982) He's always got that look of bemusement. He wants the scene to be perfect. When you do a scene with him and he's not as good as the other actor, he wants to do it over again. A lot of people mistake that for ego. It's not, it's an actor wanting to get on the same level. I had no idea Tootsie was going to be such a big success. Sometimes you luck out, but most times you don't.
Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Al is terrific. He's a giving actor. He gives you the stage when it's your turn and he backs off. You can't get better than that.
Like caustic Eve Arden in Hollywood's golden era, Greer's arrival perks up even the most mundane flick. Isn't it time she was offered a leading role?
27 DRESSES She glowed as Katherine Heigl's best friend at work, a gal who knows what women want and boldly says so.
THE WEDDING PLANNER Greer brought luster to fluster as a harried assistant in a wan Jennifer Lopez comedy.
THE VILLAGE The movie was a dreary letdown, but Greer held her own opposite Adrien Brody and other big names.
13 GOING ON 30 She was Jennifer Garner's snooty pal in this delightful comedy, again serving as a zinger sowing machine.
Jackpot! The actor, 32, makes the leap from garbage man to Katie's onscreen man in the comedy Mad Money.
YOU HAVE QUITE AN INTERESTING RESUME. Yeah, I was a garbage man, was in the Army and was a fact-checker for Mademoiselle. The worst was as a security guard: gruesome 12-hour shifts in front of an elevator.
WHAT ABOUT THE RUMORS YOU WERE STEALING KATIE AWAY FROM TOM? My mother had a ball with it. There was this photo that said, "Meet the man Tom Cruise is terrified of." That was really great.
DID YOU EVER MEET YOUR RIVAL? He was never on set when I was there, so no. He is, obviously, terrified of me.
BLONDE AMBITION ($24.96) Jessica Simpson has gone far on little more than blazingly white chompers and a curvy figure. She's smack up against the limits of her wee acting talent, though, in a dismal, pratfall-filled comedy—dumped onto DVD after a blink-and-you'd-miss-it run last month in eight Texas theaters—in which she grins alarmingly widely as an Okie hick aiming to make it in corporate Manhattan. Working Girl this is not. (PG-13)
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
