The scenery-chewing 21st-century version of actress Diane Keaton strikes again in Mad Money, a comedy about three women who rob the Federal Reserve bank in Kansas City.
Keaton can't help turning up the volume of her "plucky" persona — most likely to drown out the gaspings of a thin script by Fracture screenwriter Glenn Gers. The beloved actress here plays Bridget, whose pampered lifestyle is threatened by her husband's lengthy unemployment. When the house finally goes up for sale, the housewife with a comparative literature degree opts not to pursue a career as a teacher or the like as would be most reasonable, but as a janitor at the Fed (on the recommendation of her house maid). Leaping over this glaring stretch in the film's premise, we follow Bridget as she hatches a plan to grab some retired bills from her workplace with the help of a needy single mom (Latifah) and a loopy 20-something (Holmes). As expected, some government types eventually catch on to their operation, and the gals start to panic.
If Bridget is the legs of the film, keeping the story running along, Latifah's Nina is the heart, embarking on a life of crime only to get her two young sons into better schools. Holmes's Jackie is the class clown, operating at a level of silly for which the actress is ill-suited.
Affable Ted Danson makes few ripples as Bridget's husband Don; while Roger Cross and Adam Rothenberg also glide through the film in their minor "significant other" roles to Nina and Jackie, respectively.
Mad Money may play well with the lead actresses' fan bases, but adds only fluff to their resumes, as well as to that of director Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise's writer-director), who should know better.
