Mad Money (2008)

Director:

Callie Khouri

Writers (WGA):

Glenn Gers (screenplay)
John Mister (earlier screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

They're having the crime of their lives...

Plot:

Three female employees of the Federal Reserve plot to steal money that is about to be destroyed.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Bank | Debt | Janitor | Security Guard

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Diane Keaton	...	Bridget Cardigan
Ted Danson	...	Don Cardigan
Katie Holmes	...	Jackie Truman
Adam Rothenberg	...	Bob Truman
Queen Latifah	...	Nina Brewster
Peyton 'Alex' Smith	...	Older Dante (as Peyton Smith)
Charlie Caldwell	...	Cop #1
Richard F Law	...	Cop #2 (as Richard Law)
Meagen Fay	...	Mindy Arbogast
Christopher McDonald	...	Bryce Arbogast (as Chris McDonald)
Denise Lee	...	Counselor
Sylvia Castro Galan	...	Selina
Morgana Shaw	...	Molly
Roger R. Cross	...	Barry (as Roger Cross)
Stephen Root	...	Glover
Marc Macaulay	...	Agent Wayne
Andrew Sensenig	...	Cart Guy
Finesse Mitchell	...	Shaun
Maliek Golden	...	Young Dante
Khari King	...	Young Jimmy
Mathew Greer	...	Junior
Jim Cramer	...	Himself
John McIntosh	...	Headmaster
Bill Jenkins	...	Jeweler
Michael P. Flannigan	...	Foreman
Drew Waters	...	Fed Guy #1
Tron Kendrick	...	Fed Guy #2
Ginnie Randall	...	Ms. Cobb
Joe Nemmers	...	Detective Smith
Julius Washington	...	Detective Jones
J.C. MacKenzie	...	Richard Mandelbrot
Cliff Fleming	...	Helicopter Pilot (as Clifford Fleming)
Jennifer Wilkerson	...	Hotel Clerk
Bryan McMahon	...	District Attorney
Richard Folmer	...	IRS Man
Duke W. Scott Jr.	...	Detective Scott
Clay Chamberlin	...	Waiter
Bryan Massey	...	Detective Brinkley
Sterling Blackmon	...	Older Jimmy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
McIntyre Bridges	...	Federal Reserve Employee (uncredited)
Ron Fagan	...	Garden Party Attendee (uncredited)
Travis Fontenot	...	Federal Reserve Employee (uncredited)
Shun Hagins	...	Extra (uncredited)
Jimmy Lee Jr.	...	Federal Reserve Officer (uncredited)
Amy McGee	...	Co-Worker (uncredited)
Darcel White Moreno	...	Criminal (uncredited)
Desi Page	...	Girl Scout (uncredited)
Jeannie Perrin	...	Federal Reserve Officer (uncredited)
Arnold John Popa III	...	Federal Reserve Tech (uncredited)
Cynthia Riser	...	Federal Reserve Employee (uncredited)
Michael Showers	...	Detective (uncredited)
Cassidy Smith	...	Girl Scout (uncredited)
Bill Stinchcomb	...	Cop (uncredited)

Directed by
Callie Khouri

Writing credits (WGA)
Glenn Gers		(screenplay)
John Mister		(earlier screenplay)
Neil McKay		(screenplay "Hot Money") and
Terry Winsor		(screenplay "Hot Money")

Produced by
James Acheson	....	producer
Jay Cohen	....	producer
Boaz Davidson	....	executive producer
Frank DeMartini	....	producer
Danny Dimbort	....	executive producer
Michael P. Flannigan	....	producer (as Michael Flannigan)
Robert O. Green	....	executive producer (as Robert Green)
Wendy Kram	....	executive producer
Avi Lerner	....	executive producer
Trevor Short	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Martin Davich
James Newton Howard

Cinematography by
John Bailey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Wendy Greene Bricmont

Casting by
Junie Lowry-Johnson

Production Design by
Brent Thomas

Art Direction by
Kevin Hardison

Set Decoration by
Vera Mills

Costume Design by
Susie DeSanto

Makeup Department
Kimberly Amacker	....	additional makeup artist
Fríða Aradóttir	....	hair stylist: Ms. Keaton (as Frida Aradottir)
Julie Baker	....	hair stylist: Ms. Latifah
Nanci Cascio	....	additional hair stylist (as Nancy Cascio)
LaToya Henderson	....	makeup artist (as LaToya Green)
Krystal Kershaw	....	makeup artist
Julie Kristy	....	key makeup artist
Adruitha Lee	....	hair stylist: Ms. Holmes
Ebony Star Parson	....	makeup artist
Michelle Vittone	....	makeup department head (as Michelle Vittone-McNeil)
Tony Ward	....	key hair stylist
Crystal Woodford	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Gina Fortunato	....	unit production manager
Jerry Gilbert	....	post-production supervisor
Joseph Lobato	....	post-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott August	....	second second assistant director
Elie Cohn	....	first assistant director: second unit
Boaz Davidson	....	second unit director
Nicholas Fitzgerald	....	second assistant director
Seth Hansen	....	additional second assistant director
George Parra	....	first assistant director
Isaac Meisenheimer	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Irwin Ainsworth	....	toolman
A. Russell Amdal	....	foreman
Jack Ballance	....	set designer
John Berger	....	set designer
John Blanchard	....	construction general foreman
William Burck	....	plasterer
Gloria Hardison Clark	....	art department coordinator
Daniel Coulthard	....	set dresser
Ken Deubel III	....	lead scenic
Terry Deubel	....	paint foreman
Tommy Gilbert	....	set dresser
Kristine Grippo	....	props
Marco Guerrero	....	swing
Shannon Harrelson	....	set designer
Frank Hendrick	....	set dresser
Michael Hendrick	....	leadman
J.D. Jacoby	....	props model builder
Jerod Johnson	....	painter
Thomas V. Johnson	....	paint foreman
Troy A. Johnson	....	construction buyer
Ellen Lampl	....	graphic designer
Ernerst J. Levron Jr.	....	swing
Andy Lovell	....	props p.a
Myron Meek	....	props builder
Dave Merry	....	lead greensman
Katherine Miller	....	buyer
Johnny Rasmussen	....	swing
Scott A. Reeder	....	property master
Sondra Rowland	....	props
George Sanchez	....	plasterer
John Eric Seay	....	carpenter
Tim J. Smith	....	set dresser
Suzanne Stover	....	buyer
Chuck Stringer	....	construction coordinator
Tim Tillman	....	gang boss
Keith Wall	....	set dresser
Joe Walsh	....	set dresser
Koen Wooten	....	assistant property master
James R. Hall	....	additional graphics (uncredited)
Carter Mitchell	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Steve C. Aaron	....	sound mixer
Joshua Adeniji	....	foley editor
Jeremy Balko	....	adr mixer
Robert Dehn	....	assistant sound editor
Brent Findley	....	sound effects editor
Judah Getz	....	foley mixer
Scott Hinkley	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard Kitting	....	sound recordist
Roy Machado	....	adr mixer
Chris Main	....	boom operator
Zach Michaelis	....	foley artist
Jay Nierenberg	....	supervising sound editor
Todd Niesen	....	dialogue editor
Angelo Palazzo	....	sound effects editor
Stuart Provine	....	sound effects editor
Jonathan Wales	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jared Watt	....	utility sound

Special Effects by
Steve Frusher	....	special effects technician
Jack Lynch	....	special effects coordinator
Richard E. Perry	....	special effects technician
Bob Trevino	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Simeon Asenov	....	visual effects art director
Dilyan Aynadzhiev	....	visual effects systems administrator
Lawles Bourque	....	digital compositor
Rachel Clement	....	digital cleanup artist
Scott Coulter	....	visual effects producer
Yasen Denev	....	digital matte painter
Konstantin Dimitrov	....	digital compositor
Denitsa Dimitrova	....	digital compositor
Stanislav Dragiev	....	visual effects supervisor
Evan Ghigliotty	....	digital artist
Lyubomir Grigorov	....	visual effects
Dragomir Kostadinov	....	matte painter
Kevin Langley	....	digital compositor
Jordan Markov	....	visual effects editor
Wolfgang Maschin	....	digital compositor
Svetoslav Mitev	....	visual effects coordinator
Nick Peshunoff	....	visual effects coordinator
Julia Petrova	....	digital compositor
Iasen Pisarov	....	visual effects
Michael Ross-Lang	....	compositor & matchmove artist
Diana Simeonova	....	matchmove artist
Raena Singh	....	digital artist: Demiurge
Boyan Stoyanov	....	vfx td
Stefan Tchakarov	....	visual effects production supervisor
David Van Woert	....	visual effects producer

Stunts
Kevin Ball	....	stunt double
Kevin Beard	....	stunt performer
Lex D. Geddings	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Steven Ritzi	....	stunt coordinator (as Steve Ritzi)

Camera and Electrical Department
Patrick Barnes	....	camera loader
Bob Bates	....	best boy electric
Giovanni Bommarito	....	grip
Graham Bremner	....	grip
Clyde E. Bryan	....	key first assistant camera
Kevin Carlisle	....	b dolly grip
Larry Cottrill	....	balloon light tech
Charles Coulter	....	generator operator
Scott Crain	....	betacam operator
Sean Cruz	....	rigging electric
Brandon Dauzat	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Sean Devine	....	dolly grip
Tulio Duenas	....	second assistant cameraman: "a" camera
Rowland Egerton	....	best boy rigging grip
Eli Everhard	....	lighting technician
Robert Foster	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Robert Foster	....	director of photography: second unit
Brouke Franklin	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Dan Furst	....	video assist operator
Kevin Gazdik	....	rigging best boy electric
John Johns	....	video playback operator
Franklin Jones II	....	key rigging grip
Vic Keatley	....	rigging gaffer
Eric Meisner	....	lighting technician
Matthew Moriarty	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Matthew Moriarty	....	steadicam operator
Melissa Moseley	....	still photographer
Mike Moyer	....	gaffer
Brent Swampy Mullins	....	grip
Charlie Nauman	....	video camera utility
Robert Owen	....	grip
Mike 'Chewie' Pappas	....	electrician
Mike 'Chewie' Pappas	....	lighting technician
T.J. Sebren	....	rigging electrician
Maynard Smith	....	rigging electric
Kevin Stevenson	....	video assist operator
Tedd Underwood	....	lighting technician
Steve Urban	....	grip
Ezra Venetos	....	best boy grip
Steve Zeiger	....	grip

Casting Department
Nick Anderson	....	casting associate
Jamie Baremore	....	casting associate
Tara Duncil	....	casting associate
Tara Duncil	....	extras casting
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
Brinkley A. Maginnis	....	background casting
Brinkley A. Maginnis	....	local casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marilyn Brum	....	costumer
Donna Chance	....	key set costumer
Deborah Hall	....	costume supervisor
Heidi Howell	....	set costumer
Jennifer Kamrath	....	key set costumer
Frances LeCompte	....	seamstress
Jane Ryder	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Samer Al-Asadi	....	supervising on-line editor
Eric Bryant	....	on-line editor
Julius Friede	....	digital intermediate colorist
David Graubard	....	digital intermediate senior systems engineer
Christopher Kroll	....	associate editor
Candice Levy	....	post-production coordinator
Dennis Little	....	digital intermediate producer
Jon Pehlke	....	on-line editor
Sarah Priestnall	....	production supervisor: digital intermediate
Lee Wimer	....	color timer

Music Department
Selena Arizanovic	....	music coordinator
Marc Bonilla	....	composer: additional music
Budd Carr	....	music supervisor
Nora Felder	....	music supervisor
Timothy Huling	....	orchestrator
Michael Mason	....	music editor
Michael Mason	....	score producer
Robert Puff	....	music preparation
Bart Samolis	....	musician
Brian Sapp	....	additional music clearances
Stuart Michael Thomas	....	composer: additional music
Ashley Waldron	....	executive in charge of music: Millennium Films (as Ashley Miller)
Marc Bonilla	....	musician: electric guitar (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Annette Ansley	....	mini-van driver
Joe Comeaux	....	driver
Charles Coulter	....	generator operator/driver
Sam Craytor	....	driver: honeywagon
Kenneth Crenshaw	....	mini-van driver
Randy Duplechine	....	truck driver
Greg Faucett	....	transportation coordinator
Connie Herring	....	transportation co-captain
Robert Jepson	....	driver
Dwight Lindsey	....	driver
Randy Long	....	driver
Aaron D. Moore	....	driver: construction department
Henry Payne	....	driver
Joe Pelliccio	....	fuel truck driver
Beverly Reeves	....	driver
Ronnie Reeves	....	driver
Dan Tarter	....	driver
Hank Van Apeldoorn	....	driver
Marti Wells	....	transportation captain
Charles Whitaker	....	driver
James Yeates	....	driver
Tommy Young	....	driver

Other crew
Cheryl Andryco	....	production assistant
Prince Bagdasarian	....	film and high definition coordinator
Lamonte Bell	....	payroll accountant
LaWanda Black	....	assistant: Ms. Latifah (as LaWanda 'LB' Black)
Lucie Bourgeau	....	production secretary
Ursula Brauner	....	animal trainer
Danielle Bryce	....	production assistant
Robert C. Campion	....	production accountant
Alexandre Coscas	....	assistant: Mr. Lerner
Mona Coulter	....	travel agent
Joshua Creech	....	production assistant
Claude Forest	....	insurance broker
Sylvia Frantom	....	first assistant accountant
Sean Furst	....	production executive
James L. Gowdy	....	first assistant accountant
Warren T. Goz	....	financial consultant
Eric Green	....	marketing and publicity
Daphne A. Guichard	....	set medic
Winston A. Hall	....	production assistant
Lucia Hallett	....	production assistant
Seth William Hansen	....	production assistant
Stephanie Heaton	....	assistant: Ms. Keaton
Letitia Hoaas	....	set teacher
Shawn Hueston	....	assistant location manager
Matthew Keim	....	production assistant
Michael Klastorin	....	unit publicist
Todd Korody	....	systems engineer
Ashley Kravitz	....	clearance coordinator
Alan J. Lam	....	production controller
Liz Landers	....	key craft service
Andrew Lovell	....	production assistant
Joan Mao	....	assistant: Mr. Davidson
K. Lynn Martin	....	script supervisor
Stewart McMichael	....	financial consultant
Isaac Meisenheimer	....	assistant: Mr. Flannigan
John A. Metoyer	....	location assistant
Rouslan Ovtcharoff	....	production associate
Gerson Paz	....	set production assistant
Alejandra Pedemonte	....	assistant: Ms. Khouri
Lonnie Ramati	....	production business affairs
Kay Redstone	....	stand-in: Diane Keaton
Michael Riley	....	title designer
Tina Rosen	....	senior v.p. finance
Ned R. Shapiro	....	location manager
Laura Sherman	....	assistant production coordinator
Laura Sherman	....	travel coordinator
Sherrill Smith	....	key assistant location manager
Tim J. Smith	....	stand-in: Roger Cross
Ray Tamayo	....	staff accountant
Amy Louise Tripodi	....	assistant: Ms. Holmes (as Amy Tripodi)
Arturo Lopez Uscanga	....	scanning manager
Roman Viaris-de-Lesegno	....	vice president finance
Lisa Vijitchanton	....	production coordinator
Dana Wilkey	....	product placement
Jared Pendergrass	....	accounting staff (uncredited)
Nicholas Rich	....	dog handler (uncredited)
Cynthia Riser	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Thanks
Peter Adee	....	special thanks
Kathleen Blanco	....	special thanks (as Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco)
T-Bone Burnett	....	special thanks (as T Bone Burnett)
Elizabeth Cantillon	....	special thanks
Electra Churchill	....	special thanks
JoAnne Colonna	....	special thanks (as JoAnne Acheson)
Emily Cummins	....	special thanks
Cedric B. Glover	....	special thanks (as Mayor Cedric B. Glover)
Goldie Hawn	....	special thanks
Bradford S. Lovette	....	special thanks
Bruce Markoe	....	special thanks
Terri Pitts	....	very special thanks
Antony Root	....	special thanks
Danny Rosett	....	special thanks
Bradley Stanley	....	very special thanks

Production Companies

• Big City Pictures
• Granada Entertainment
• Grand Army Entertainment
• Lightspeed Media
• MMoney
• MWP Productions
• Millennium Films
• Overture Films
• Swingin' Productions

Distributors

• Millennium Films (2008) (worldwide) (all media)
• Overture Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Alliance Films (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Top Film (2008) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Culture Publishers (CP) (2009) (Japan) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Eagle Films (2008) (non-USA) (all media) (Middle East)
• Film1 (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Future Film (2008) (Finland) (all media)
• Gativideo (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Midget Entertainment (2008) (Denmark) (all media)
• Noble Entertainment (2008) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Noble Entertainment (2009) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Odeon (2008) (Romania) (all media)
• RTL Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL5)

Special Effects

• Louisiana Media Services (visual effects)
• Worldwide FX (visual effects)

Other Companies

• BAM Casting  
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  hydrascope telescoping crane arm
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  stabilized remote camera systems
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Hollywood Intermediate  digital intermediate services
• Identity Studios  visual effects
• Kinetic Imageworks  post-production facilities
• Klass Entertainment  product placement
• Louisiana Media Services  post-production
• Magic Film and Video Works  telecine dailies
• On Tour Productions  provided the dog
• On Tour Transportation  transportation services
• Rockbottom Rentals  cell phone rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  junxion box rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  nextel cell phone rentals
• Sessions Payroll Management  extras payroll services
• Shine  main titles
• Shine  post-production
• Sonic Magic  sound post-production
• Soundtrack  ADR Facility
• Sublime Sound  post-production sound services

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual material and language, and brief drug references

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Malaysia:U | Singapore:PG | Brazil:10 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | UK:12 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Big City Pictures

Trivia:

Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins (2005) sequel The Dark Knight (2008) to star in this film. Maggie Gyllenhaal was subsequently chosen to replace her.

Goofs:

Continuity: After finding out her house will be sold, Bridget walks into the study room, where Don is lying on the sofa. The patterned pillow moves between shots.

Quotes:

Bob Truman:They say money can't buy happiness but it sure as hell buys everything else.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Nurse Jackie: Sleeping Dogs (#2.10)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

(Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away

Interesting Idea for a Financial Stimulus Package

"Mad Money" has reasonable entertainment value, great characters, and even a nice little unexpected twist at the end to satisfy the escapist movie-goer. The essential plot of Mad Money is not that original as heist movies go. The formula usually goes something like this: the characters are in a bad financial or similar situation, they find out about some booty supposedly completely unobtainable, devise a scheme to lift the booty which has some intriguing element(s) to it, and then go about getting the booty. Along the way there are some twists and turns to keep it interesting. If it's too easy, it won't work. Part of the fun is whether or not they will get away with it, and how they will do it. Heist movies are almost a dime a dozen these days, with fair such as "Oceans 11" (both the old and the new versions), its subsequent sequels, "Heist", "The Score", etc.

What gives "Mad Money" a unique flavor is the characters who enact the heist, essentially the Neapolitan kind: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Most Hollywood heist movies star middle-aged men devising elaborate schemes requiring PhD's to perpetrate the heist. In "Mad Money", the team of schemers are three women working at below-sea-level jobs at the Federal Reserve building: a white grandmother of the upper middle-class variety (Diane Keaton), a middle-aged African-American single mother trying to stay above water (Queen Latifah, who actually stuffs packs of bills into a large shredding machine), and Katie Holmes as a 20-something scatter-brain who will probably lose the better part of her hearing by movie's end. How Holmes ever landed a position at the Federal Reserve is one of the many intriguing mysteries of the movie. A rather unlikely swashbuckling gang of hoodlums who sport wash cloths and garbage bags instead of swords.

Keaton and Latifah have the most at stake in their interesting idea for a financial stimulus package: to lift ragged and torn bills from the Federal Reserve before they are about to be shredded. In other words, stealing money that really isn't money. However, I wouldn't try this at home. Year-round, the Federal Reserve acquires tons and tons of ragged and worn bills from banks and other large financial institutions and swaps them for new crisp clean bills. The ragged bills go by way of the shredding and pulping machines.

How they pull off the heist sort of works, although it does fray into a little bit of the fantastic as stealing from a Federal Governmental agency like the Federal Reserve is sort of akin to trying to raise the Titanic. It probably ain't gonna happen. However, a unique chemistry between the actors somehow makes the movie work, and the writers took the story seriously enough to give a lot of unexpected laughs, the way comedies of this type should be written. In other words, luckily the writers didn't try to make the movie "funny".

On a final note, the outstanding talent of the cast has to be Queen Latifah who does an excellent job of portraying a single mom who wants the booty but has ambivalence about the entire scheme. In fact the entire cast is excellent, with Diane Keaton believable as the guiding force behind the heist, and Ted Danson as her bewildered husband. My only criticism is that I would have liked a little more of a hint regarding the twist at the end which did come out of left field. Enjoyable and worth the price of admission, although I doubt I will shell out another 20 bucks for the DVD.