Newman and Fiorentino right on the "Money"

by Jon Chattman

4-20-00

Only Paul Newman could make an unoriginal film caper, "Where the Money Is," feel like a pleasant road trip.

In his latest, Newman portrays Henry Manning, a famous bank robber who cons his way out of prison by faking a stroke and into a nursing home. At the home, Manning catches the eye of Carol Ann McKay, a nurse who thinks that the renowned bank robber is putting everybody on by sitting in a wheel chair in a vegetative state.

Tired of her boring life in a small town, which includes spending time alone while her husband Wayne (Dermot Mulroney) works the nightshift at his job, McKay looks to add some much needed excitement in her life. In doing this, she goes to great lengths to get Manning to admit that he's in perfect condition=97by doing anything from performing a lap dance to pushing the former bank robber off a small cliff and into a river bank.

Once the truth is revealed, the excitement-craved former prom queen agrees to not say a word at work, but in return, Manning must teach her how to rob banks. Along with Wayne, the trio plan a heist to steal money from an armored car by making pick ups at various destinations on the car's route. Acting comes so natural to the 75-year-old legend Newman. Right from the moment is wheeled onto the screen in a wheelchair by prison guards, there is a sense that a genius is at work. For almost a third of the film, the actor convincingly acts as a character acting as if he has had a stroke. He is so convincing during this portion of the film, that it is totally believable to the moviegoer why the prison and nursing home is fooled.

Newman is particularly good in the lap dance scene where McKay seduces him to try to get him to open up. The actor sits stone-faced expressing nothing to McKay by sitting in a vegetative state, but everything to the audience in his eyes.

Once the secret is out that McKay is in fact alive and kicking, Newman displays such charisma in the role that never for a moment would anyone think that the actor was acting. It comes so natural to him. This is evident in his preparation for the bank robbing offering McKay and her husband tricks of his trade by showing them how to steal dollars with sense. Linda Fiorentino, who was brilliant in "The Last Seduction" and the only brains in "Men in Black," proves she's up to the task of matching Newman's wits on screen. Right from the film's opening credits, the moviegoer can tell that Fiorentino's character is a woman seeking excitement in her life. The film opens with a drunk McKay distracting her prom king and future husband while he is driving, and causing an accident in the process. Throughout Fiorentino's performance are traces that she wants a better life=97that she is sick of the small town norm. She seeks adventure, and finds it in Manning.

Fiorentino effectively shows her character's intent to liven up things by conning Manning to reveal that he is functional. Throughout the film, she shows McKay's growing anticipation to rob the bank. She especially shines by showing this in a latter scene where she prepares for it by scoping out policeman, watching their every move, and timing their route in an armored car.

As Wayne, Dermot Mulroney finds himself a third wheel to Manning and McKey, and unfortunately, the third wheel of the film, too. Given little to work with, the actor offers little to his role as a husband who is perfectly happy with his life, even though his marriage hasn't had much of a spark. The film belongs to the two stars. The rest of the supporting cast aren't noteworthy. The film concentrates are not allowed to shine much except for some cutsy lines from elderly patients in the nursing home. Marek Kanievska offers good direction, but nothing to rob a bank over. He draws superb performances from Newman and Fiorentino, but beyond that he offers nothing fresh=97which is unfortunate because it is a caper. To his credit, Kanievska had a not-so-fresh script by E. Max Frye (who also wrote the story), Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright. The team of writers can be credited for an entertaining clichéd script of a student learning from a teacher to find, "where the money is," but the concentration on the lead roles causes the script to lose focus on its other characters and the story. With all of the minuses of the film, "Where the Money Is" cashes in on a classic Newman performance, and a classy Fiorentino. The two stars allow the film to be right on the money.