Where the Money Is (2000)

Director:

Marek Kanievska

Writers (WGA):

E. Max Frye (story)
E. Max Frye (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 May 2000 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Another con. Another sting. Another day.

Plot:

Carol Ann MacKay is a fine, popular nurse at a retirement home, and spends her free time with her hunky athletic husband Wayne MacKay...

Plot Keywords:

Stroke | Nursing Home | Nurse | Wheelchair | Robbery

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Henry
Linda Fiorentino	...	Carol
Dermot Mulroney	...	Wayne
Susan Barnes	...	Mrs. Foster
Anne Pitoniak	...	Mrs. Tetlow
Bruce MacVittie	...	Karl
Irma St. Paule	...	Mrs. Galer (also as Irma St. Paul)
Michel Perron	...	Guard
Dorothy Gordon	...	Mrs. Norton
Rita Tuckett	...	Mrs. Weiler (as Rita Tucket)
Diane Amos	...	Kitty
Dawn Ford	...	Cheryl - Wife #2
T.J. Kenneally	...	Farwell Welk
Rod McLachlan	...	Lloyd the Cop (also as Roderick McLachlan)
Bill Corday	...	Grounds Worker

Also Known As:

Ein heißer Coup (Germany)
Where the Money is - Ein heißer Coup (Germany) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG | France:U | Germany:6 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Gramercy Pictures (I)

Quotes:

Henry Manning: You wanna save your marriage by robbing a bank. Why don't you go see a priest?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Eisai to tairi mou: (#1.1)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

You Might Think

Newman shines

Paul Newman shines in this implausible, but highly watchable caper flick about three unlikely armored car robbers. It is hard to believe that Newman is 75. He is fitter and more energetic than most men who are fifteen years his junior. He single-handedly elevates this film from mediocrity.

The story is nothing unique. Henry (Newman) is a bank robber who is delivered to a nursing home after a debilitating stroke. His nurse (Linda Fiorentino) suspects he is not the vegetable he appears to be. After she gets him to admit his ruse, she exhorts him to knock off an armored truck with her.

Director Marek Kanievska and writer Max Frye leave numerous gaps in the story. We never discover what tips off Carol that Henry is faking. They didn't do enough character development of Carol and Wayne (Dermot Mulroney) to make it believable that they would want to become criminals, no less hatch the scheme. The idea that Carol was pretending to be the dispatcher for the armored car company from a cell phone in the truck is a flimsy concoction. Even with digital technology, most cell phones in moving vehicles sound like cell phones, and you can hear road noises and the engine running.

Still, despite a lackluster script, the film is enjoyable because of Paul Newman. Newman gives a fantastic rendition of a stroke victim, and his hardened and cantankerous portrayal was marvelous. Linda Fiorentino plays the scheming sex-kitten nurse in one of her better performances. The screen chemistry between Fiorentino and Newman is excellent with undercurrents of sexual desire constantly flaring up between them. Dermot Mulroney is relegated to a role that was essentially a fifth wheel and is adequate as Carol's loser of a husband.

I rated this film a 7/10. It is good entertainment and an opportunity to see a master at work. Newman hasn't lost a beat in a movie career that spans almost a half a century. It is worth seeing for him alone.