Money for Nothing (1993)

An unemployed man finds a money bag of $1.2 million after it dropped off an armored car.

Director:

Ramón Menéndez

Writers:

Mark Bowden (article), Ramón Menéndez (screenplay)

Stars:

John Cusack, Debi Mazar, Michael Madsen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Joey Coyle
Debi Mazar	...	Monica Russo
Michael Madsen	...	Detective Laurenzi
Benicio Del Toro	...	Dino Palladino
Michael Rapaport	...	Kenny Kozlowski
Maury Chaykin	...	Vincente Goldoni
James Gandolfini	...	Billy Coyle
Fionnula Flanagan	...	Mrs. Coyle
Elizabeth Bracco	...	Eleanor Coyle
Ashleigh Dejon	...	Katie Coyle
Lenny Venito	...	Hrbek
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Cochran (as Philip S. Hoffman)
Currie Graham	...	Dunleavy
Frankie Faison	...	Madigan
Ed Pansullo	...	Carini

Storyline

When unemployed dockworker Joey Coyle finds $1.2 million that fell off of an armored car, he decides to do the logical thing: take the money and run. After all, he says, finders keepers. He turns to his ex-girlfriend Monica, who works in an investment firm, for advice, before turning to the mob for help laundering the money. While Joey makes plans to leave the country, however, a detective is following his ever-warmer trail in order to recover the cash.

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Plot Keywords:

money | detective | finders keepers | dockworker | suitcase of money | 

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Taglines:

What would you do if you found a million bucks?

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and a scene of sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Joey Coyle Story

Filming Locations:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,044,824

Company Credits

Production Co:

Permut Presentations, Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (DuArt)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There was no Vinnie in real life. However, Joey Coyle did meet with a mob employee named Masi, whose father did deliver items to Laurenzi's father's business.

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Goofs

There is a scene in which Joey throws nickles at Dino. One of the coins stick to his forehead. When the scene comes back shortly, the coin is gone, but when the scene focuses on Dino again the coin is back.

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Quotes

Vincente Goldoni: [holding up a $100 bill] In terms of empathy, in the sense of putting oneself inside the skin of another person, I admire that man. He was an inventor, he had imagination. He was a bit of a fatso, but he was sexually active. And of all of the Founding Fathers whose faces appear on hard currency, he's the only one cracking a smile. Ben Franklin.
Joey Coyle: Why is Ben smiling?
Vincente Goldoni: He was smart enough not to be President.

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Connections

References Batman: The Animated Series (1992)

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Soundtracks

Busted
Written by Harlan Howard
Performed by Phil Perry

User Reviews

When a Great Amount of Money Becomes a Trouble

Joey Coyle (John Cusak) is a young man of twenty-six years old and without any perspective in life: unemployed, with basic level of instruction only. Living with his brother's family and his mother. One day, when he is coming back home with his friend Kenny Kozlowski (Michael Rapaport) after not being hired to work in the dock, he finds 1.2 million dollars that felt from an armored car. He decides to keep the money, and this is the beginning of a series of stupidities, in a true story. Being a simple man, Joey has no malicious and does not know how to handle with such amount of illegal money. This movie alternates action, comedy and drama and entertains. The cast is great. My vote is seven.