Dull Money
As a movie fan I will pretty much watch anything, it doesn't even have to have a star name or someone I am familiar with to get me to watch but that does mean I have watched a fair few turkeys over the years. And now I have watched another one; "Cool Money" which is inspired by true events but feels more like a work of fiction directed by someone who is more interested in trying to recreate other director's style than telling the story. The end result is a movie which seems to appeal to fans of James Marsters, there are many positive reviews which seem to swoon about the actor, but for anyone else it is a laborious, mixed up experience.
Having escaped from prison where he was serving time on a charge of attempted robbery Bobby Comfort (James Marsters - P.S. I Love You) finds himself back in court when the FBI track him down. But Bobby is prepared and proves that he had previously been sent to prison for longer than he should have and so is eligible for immediate release. With his wife Stephanie (Robin Brûlé) he tries to settle down to a normal life doing a normal job but normal is boring and when he is approached by Sammy Nalo (John Cassini) he starts robbing again, targeting New York hotels. But pulling of robberies and dealing with Sam who is a loose cannon is not his only issue as his cousin Phil (Jason Schombing), a cop, has a thing for Stephanie.
Let me say this to make my stand very clear "Cool Money" is a yawn fest, one 90 minute movie which never once gets good. Now in fairness the actual storyline is not bad, any movie about heists has the potential to be entertaining but the writing in this is terrible full of plot holes and dialogue which is often inane. The writing is at its worst when it comes to the actual dialogue which is so cliche ridden that you spend most of the movie thinking what other movie you heard it in.
That is the thing about "Cool Money", it comes across like director Gary Burns was less interested in telling a story and more interested in imitating other directors. As such there are times it feels like it is trying to be like "Goodfellas" at others it feels "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". But the end result is a movie which doesn't really know what it is and has this dull blend of drama and humour.
What this all boils down to is that "Cool Money" is not a cool movie but a dull one which feels too often like it is trying to be like other greater movies. For fans of James Marsters it appears to be entertaining but for anyone else it is painfully laborious.
