Drowning Mona (2000)

When a woman drives a car into the river to her death, everyone in town becomes a suspect.

Director:

Nick Gomez

Writer:

Peter Steinfeld

Stars:

Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny DeVito	...	Chief Wyatt Rash
Bette Midler	...	Mona Dearly
Neve Campbell	...	Ellen Rash
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Rona Mace
Casey Affleck	...	Bobby Calzone
William Fichtner	...	Phil Dearly
Marcus Thomas	...	Jeff Dearly
Peter Dobson	...	Lt. Feege Gruber
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Lucinda
Tracey Walter	...	Clarence
Will Ferrell	...	Cubby the Funeral Director
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Deputy Tony Carlucci
Paul Schulze	...	Deputy Jimmy D.
Mark Pellegrino	...	Murph Calzone
Raymond O'Connor	...	Father Tom Stowick

Storyline

Mona Dearly, a spiteful, loud-mouthed, unpopular woman dies when the car she is driving in plunges off a cliff and into a river near the small upstate New York town where she lives. Wyatt Rash, the local police chief, investivates and suspects foul play in Mona's death and tries to contain the whole town whom all are suspects who include Wyatt's daughter Ellen, who is going to marry landscape artist Bobby Calzone whose business was suffering from his lazy business partner, Jeff, Mona's slow-witted son, as well as waitress Rona Mace, who was having an affair with Mona's husband.

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Plot Keywords:

suspect | yugo | overalls | drowning | car accident | 

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Taglines:

The death of Mona Dearly wasn't so much a whodunnit, as a who didn't.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, language and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Qui a tué Mona?

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,802,229 (USA) (3 March 2000)

Gross:

$15,427,192 (USA) (7 April 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Code Entertainment, Jersey Shore, Marigold Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Mona Dearly" (the character played by Bette Midler) is an anagram for "Only a dream."

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Goofs

Jeph's car, with Mona driving, has no working brakes. When Mona backs out, we do not see brake lights come on, and the sound implies she uses the clutch to stop the car and go forward, thus never using the brakes.

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Quotes

Ellen: You're supposed to have that thing in your head that says, "BAD FUCKING IDEA, BOBBY!"
Bobby Kalzone: I do have it! It just didn't work!

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Connections

References The Sound of Music (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Crazy"
Written by Barbara L. Jordan, William Peterkin and Christopher Rhyme
Courtesy of Barbara L. Jordan / Heavy Hitters

User Reviews

Hilarious and well-done

This off-beat comedy is definitely one of the better movies I've seen recently. The plot is engaging and fast-paced; the movies doesn't even come close to the two-hour mark. The conclusion is satisfying and unexpected.

Every actor is perfectly cast. Casey Affleck gives an excellent performance as put-upon Bobby Calzone, Neve Campbell is terrific as Ellen, Bobby's fiancee, and Danny DeVito is loveable and sweet as police chief Wyatt Rash, Ellen's father. All in all, this is a very good movie, perfect for a lazy day.