User reviews

Henry Perkins (Chevy Chase) is been working at a fruit wax company for many years and he doesn't seem to be appreciate by his boss (Robert Loggia). In this day, Henry is also celebrating his birthday. Which his wife (Penelope Ann Miller) wants to planning a surprise birthday party for her husband. But when Henry accidentally switched his briefcase with a stranger from the subway. Herny finds $5 million on the briefcase that looks like his. Since Henry realizes quickly the situation of this problem. Since the mysterious guy, he accidentally switch his briefcase has his identity in it. Henry wants to leave the country with his struggling artist wife to Europe but the Perkins' only friends (Christopher McDonald and Alex Meneses) shows up his birthday party. But there's more to come... when Henry has problems with a sleazy corrupted police detective (Armand Assante), a taxi driver (Guy Torry) who doesn't like to be waiting, a clumsy police detective (Kevin Sussman), a very rich kinky woman named MM. Virginia (Rebecca Wisocky) who feels Henry's wife has some talent and the European mob boss known as Mr. Big (Zoltan Butuc) & his crew is searching for his briefcase.

Directed by Leslie Grief made an watchable but hardly funny farce. There's a few good laughs here but not much of it. The movie seems to have energy from his cast but the script also written by the director and Harry Basil is quite poor. The movie feels rushed, gags are not well executed and it is also badly filmed. Grief's wasted a capable good cast. I do believe Chase could be really funny actor but i think, it works best when he is in the hands of a good comedic filmmaker like Harold Ramis or John Landis. Ann Miller's performance is really irritating here. Since it's based on a stage play of the same title by Ray Cooney. I am sure, the stage play works much better than this misfired picture. It's certainly a nice try and it's more of a Curio film than entertainment. Too bad. (* ½/*****).

"Funny Money" is a screwball comedy like they made in the sixties! One crazy situation after another! The first 30 minutes are slow! Then the pace gets fast! And when the pace gets faster and faster! The scenes get funnier by the minute! Most of the cast do a pretty good job! They all seem to have fun and it shows! The characters do really crazy things and sometimes it is too ridiculous! But because the characters are likable it is acceptable! I can understand the criticism of some reviewers! The first 30 minutes almost ruined the whole experience! It does have to placed in context of the movie! The first part is nothing but a setup for the crazy situations in the second part! This movie demands viewers to have some patience! When they do they will be rewarded! People forget that it is very hard to do comedy! And that producers have to think of several ways to draw an audience! I think they succeeded! The title suggest what the movie is:funny!

Now Chevy Chase may not have done a classic comedy in this movie but this movie has got to be close to being a great comedy if not being a great comedy. The movie is about a guy who does the same boring thing every day and then mixes up a bag with a robber and finds himself rich. This movie has around 31 jokes in it and they are pretty much all funny and even though some are very hit and miss most of them are great enough to be classic Chevy Chase comedy. This movie is not quite as good as Fletch or Caddyshack but it is really quite good and overall I think that this movie is a really funny movie that deserves a high praise so I rate it 83% and under the reference of "watch at all costs" comedy.

First of all I must say, I don't agree with the current rating (6.4) which is in my opinion a result of small number of voters. This movie, except few first minutes, is a giant mess. It looks like Monthy Python on speed. I can't believe Chevy Chase is acting in this one. Obviously, we have different perception of humor as well as the taste, but this movie could not be labeled as good comedy no matter what angle you're looking at it from. Long story short and without spoilers, the whole plot is stationed to a house, and all 'humourous' situations are caused by visit of two detectives, that came to visit without warrant and could be sent away in a heartbeat by any conscious adult. I am a huge fan of comedy and also of the movies with Chevy Chase, but I was very disappointed. This movie had just a few comic situations and dialogs, not enough for calling it funny movie. I certainly wouldn't recommend this to anyone who looks for an entertaining movie.

Do not watch this movie! I really think people who give this movie good ratings must be part of the production or something related because this movie is really really crappy. If I can give it minus rating I would.

First the good:

The concept of the movie is not bad. Funny money, a story where a man pick the wrong briefcase and have some troubles because of it. Not very creative but what the hey, sounds like a classic good old fun movie.

Now the bad:

1. VERY crappy acting. You can SEE that they are acting.

2. VERY crappy dialogues. Some might argue "can you write a better one?" YES I CAN. And so can YOU!

3. VERY crappy editing. I cannot say I can do a better job because I have no editing skill whatsoever but where and when they cut the movie to go to another scene is terrible. Any movie-making undergraduate can make this.

4. Actors that are not in sync with each other. It seems the actors are not casted and they just pick some somewhat popular names.

5. Penelope Miller - She is over-acting and it is very very annoying. This is just personal opinion that I'm sure a lot who watched it will agree.

6. Actually, most of the actors are annoying because you can't really follow the logic of their decision.

This isn't even worth watching if it was free!!! Not even if you love with Chevy Chase!

Well I can honestly say that this is one of the first Chevy Chase movies I haven't actually laughed at...... at least not in a good sense!! With it's predictable plot, un-funny slapstick type humour and lack of depth, this movie drones along to leave the viewer watching the clock on the DVD player anxiously awaiting 1 hour and 29 minutes to be up! Chevy Chase and the rest of the cast tried very hard, I've been a big fan of Chevy Chase all my life, and must say that I feel sorry for him being subjected to acting in this movie, guess times are desperate for him.

Anyway, Die hard Chevy Chase fans will wanna check this one out regardless but don't get ur hopes up for anything special, I was hoping for a kinda " Rat Race" feel to the movie, instead I smelt a dirty rat.

As a big fan of Chevy Chase I was interested to watch this film and as with most of the previous comments of this film I agree that it is certainly no "Fletch" or early "Vacation" film. But the point the most people seem to be missing is that this film is an adaptation of a farcical play written by (British Playwright) Ray Cooney and as such any attempt to dissect the plot is akin to dissecting the plot of an absurdist play (see "Rhinoceros" - starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel) - there is no point.

I think it is a reasonably good comedy although in general I find farce frustrating - namely for the reasons that annoyed most of the people who have criticised this film i.e. plot makes no sense, situations that could easily be dissolved are allowed to carry on out of control etc. Essentially this film has been created to resemble a stage production i.e small ensemble of core characters and a minimal number of sets.

I think the main characters are fairly strong and the dialogue and interaction between the characters is fast paced and funny although I do think it takes 20/30 minutes to get going.

As for the cast in general it was good and I actually thought that Penelope Ann Miller's character was excellent and she played it very well. Chevy Chase's character was also good and his interaction with both Armand Assante's and Christopher McDonald's characters brought the most laughs.

The bottom line is if you do not like farce you will probably not like this film. I also do think that in general any film that is an adaption of a stage play or remake is always destined to fail especially if the original was not American (a good example would be the remake of "The Ladykillers" - the big question being why did it need to be remade?)

In January of 2007 this movie debuted in limited release on four screens, pulled in less than $2000, and hopefully those few people demanded a refund.

The director and the cast should have paniced sometime during filming when it became clear that the movie had only one joke, not amusing the first time around, but repeated over and over in every scene until I finally had to give up and switch away to a re-run of a Jeopardy game.

I liked Chevy Chase early in his career in TV and film, but his talents have dissipated even more quickly than his hair. He walks thru this film with no flair or style whatsoever. This has been all too common in some of his later efforts.

A sad waste of time for everyone involved, especially the viewer.

This is a decent movie. It definitely needed more locations in terms of, the airport, per say, but the film is decent in itself. Chevy Chase does a fine job, but Penelope Miller played her role a bit too hysterical for my taste. That's my take on it, but since it is a film adaptation of a farce comedy play, then I suggest you watch it yourself and make your own interpretations, as opinions vary, especially in this genre.

Chevy Chase was his normal self and there were some humerous bits in the movie, but all in all I found the movie to be boring and not very funny at all. If you like Chevy then I guess its ok, but he's made better movies.

Chevy Chase Fans? Are you kidding? His last decent gig was when he left SNL and that made the show better! 1975 for you sports fans...Watch Murray in Quick Change (1990) for a great funny movie. Maybe I'll grant you Foul Play w/Goldie Hawn, but that was 1978... come on Chevy, explain how anyone even sends you a script these days, Chase and Miller have the screen chemistry of a fly drawn to my Great Dane's dog droppings. Speaking of Miller she is not well liked in the industry because she needs a personality transplant and is mean to the crew. Armand Assante....what happened? Stick to mob movies man...hes's great in American Gangster and holds his own against Denzel.

What a delight to see Chevy Chase back on-screen again, with a great ensemble of hilarious actors. Director Leslie Grief does an excellent job of keeping the audience in stitches from the opening credits to the final Smile.

We saw this movie as the opening film of the 2006 Sarasota Film Festival, in a theater with 1700 other people. There is no question that the audience loved it. At times, the laughs were so loud and long that if you weren't paying close attention, you might have missed the next joke.

If you are looking for good, old-fashioned belly laughs, you won't be disappointed in this film. Kudos to Leslie Grief, Chevy Chase, Penelope Anne Miller, Armand Assante and Chris McDonald.

With a title of "Funny Money" you ought to be able to work out that this is a film that doesn't take itself seriously ... and neither should you (take it seriously). If it helps, forget the fact that Chevy Chase is playing the lead (lots of big actors play direct-to-video films anyway), and see it more as a feature-length TV episode. There are belly-laughter moments. Just don't be expecting a different kind of film based on your experience of contemporary comedy film (for example gross-out humour). This film is less "slapstick", it is farce; that means the humor lies in lots of things happening very quickly continually upsetting the situation. The beginning of the film is not so hot but is necessary to set up the premise for the rest of the story. So basically, stick with it to when it gets to the main act.

Overview: A frivolous, fun and funny 97 minutes. Don't go expecting the scale and budget of a theatrical release.

Compared to this movie, "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and "Santa Claus vs. the Martians" are like "Casablanca" and "Gone with the Wind". This is easily one of the worst movies ever made. A total waste of the talents of Armand Assante and Robert Logia. The script took several MAJOR departures from the source material, a very funny British farce. What should have had the look and feel of an episode of "Fawlty Towers", with frenetic pace and laughs every few seconds was instead a flat, slow, and plodding mess. Whoever did the so-called adaptation should be run out of town on a rail. Took an easy way out by adding gratuitous vulgarity in a futile attempt for laughs. We did not so much as crack a smile when we saw this garbage. It could not have been over fast enough. This is a train wreck, not a movie. The plot was incoherent and the acting completely wooden. Any elementary school play would be more entertaining. Awful doesn't begin to cover it. Makes "Modern Problems" seem worthy of an Oscar by comparison.

I wasted 97 minutes of my life watching this crap. I only watched it because I am auditioning for the play at my local amateur theater. I am now truly re-considering going to the audition! This film was simply unfunny, not 1 laugh was had by me. I reckon Chevy Chase and all other cast members would want to remove this film from their resume. I think this carries the tradition of stage plays not transferring to film. Shame, it had a good cast on paper. Now I worry that if the movie is this unfunny that the play may also be unfunny. I se that the original author, Ray Cooney, was also a producer for the movie. He must have so many regrets now!

once a square predictable men gets his hands on a five million suitcase, he is spontaneous, resourceful, and cunning, and he needs every drop of it to bring the millions preferably alongside himself to shore, because soon enough, good cops , bad cops, uncooperative wife, Romanian Mafiosos, and the his best friends will be involved in a an evening no one in the house will forget, not even the cabdriver. yeah watch that cabdriver. the movie is a fanny way to pass an evening of your own and imagine the what ifs, make a plan and share it, if you kind enough with the writer of these review.

let me leave you to the movie with a final thought not of my own

"Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort." - Helen Gurley Brown

"Funny Money" is trying to be a slapstick farce, that style of comedy based on misunderstandings and incredible coincidences that put the characters into increasingly ridiculous predicaments as the story progresses. Farcical films are usually based on farcical plays. This kind of comedy is really, really difficult to pull off on the stage, and near impossible to get right on film. Blake Edwards got it about right in films like "A Shot in the Dark" and Peter Bogdonavich's adaptation of "Noises Off" wasn't bad. But the list of farce films that work is very short. Not only must the writing and performances be 100% right on the money, as they do on the stage, but the visual pacing, shooting style and editing also have to be 100% right. If any one of those things is off, the film goes on another list--the "totally sucks" list. And this film,"Funny Money," also based upon a stage play, has to be at the top of that totally sucks list. It fails on every count imaginable and is one of the most painful attempts at this kind of humor I've ever sat through. I'd like to say that a better, more experienced filmmaker could have made this better, but I have suspicions that the original play it was based upon sucked as well (based upon the incredible depths of suckage this thing reaches).

It's one of those movies that if it pops up on a TV channel you can watch cause it's fast paced. Plotline has no explanation except that Chevy switched a briefcase and got one with $5mil. Physical humor, lousy dialogues and just not funny. I love all actors involved and their performances, just not funny.

We picked this DVD out of a stack one Saturday afternoon and dropped it in, not expecting much. The movie starts slow, with about a half-hour of exposition. It really kicks into gear when the action moves to the apartment of the two leads (Chase and Miller).

The movie works like a play, with most of the action confined to this apartment. Characters come and go, and interact with each other. This is not a subtle or ironic comedy, but rather most of the gags are coarse and blunt. Some are also repeated a number of times.

This may not be your cup of tea, but for me, on that afternoon, it was just what I was in the mood to see. I laughed out loud and was sad when the movie started to wrap up.

The only decent Chevy Chase movie was Christmas Vacation. Most action takes place in one location. Give this one a pass

Total time waster. A movie for idiots. I don't know how anybody can find this funny. It's basically a dumb movie. Even if you have nothing better to do, don't watch this.