Money Talks

Starring: Chris Tucker, Charlie Sheen, Heather Locklear, Elise Neal, Paul Sorvino, David Lee McLain, Faizon Love
Directed by: Brett Ratner
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A con man (Chris Tucker) reluctantly teams with a newsman (Charlie Sheen) when he runs afoul of dangerous criminals.

Review:

Tim: I missed Money Talks during the 1990s and it wasn't until 2021 that I was able to see it. Even accounting for time being somewhat unkind to this film, it's a pretty bad movie. I actually went into it feeling excited. Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen were both solid 1990s actors, and it was directed by Brett Ratner. Ratner might be a terrible person, but he's made a string of enjoyable movies. None of those elements mattered much here, though. This is an utterly forgettable action comedy that strained my patience. It's quite simply a poorly made movie.

You can definitely see the 1990s influence on this film. This came out a year before Rush Hour, so it some ways, it feels like a trial run for that movie (which is surprisingly funny and effective). You can see some of those aspects here, but it's raw, uneven, and never fully utilized. It's a buddy action movie, but featuring a con man and a journalist. That pairing really made no sense to me. It was like they wanted to do a buddy cop movie without the cops. I get featuring a fast-talking swindler as the lead, since it leverages Chris Tucker's strengths. I never got Charlie Sheen's TV reporter angle. It felt forced, unlikely, and ultimately didn't make much sense. That aspect of the film felt incredibly weak and it's a pretty big aspect of the film.

I really like Chris Tucker and I liked a pre-meltdown Charlie Sheen. Their pairing is one of things I was most anticipating about this movie. The reality is a letdown, unfortunately. They never have the chemistry they should have had on screen. Much of their banter feels forced. Tucker is absolutely in his element and comes across better than Sheen. Tucker's just doing his fast-talking thing. It's not often funny, but it's at least slightly amusing. I never really believed Sheen's character's motivations. The script didn't do him any favors and he seemed like he wasn't sure what to do opposite Tucker. A year later, Jackie Chan would absolutely crush his partnership with Tucker. That's what fueled the Rush Hour movies. That same partnership isn't present here and it strains our ability to enjoy what we see on screen.

The supporting cast was at least decent. Heather Locklear didn't have much to do, but it's always fun to see her. I really enjoyed Paul Sorvino's supporting role. It was actually one of the best parts of the movie and there was no reason for this to be true. He really did elevate that subplot. It doesn't help that it makes so little sense and felt tacked onto the film, but Sorvino was enjoyable regardless.

The story as a whole is just a mess. I honestly have no desire to recap it here. It wouldn't come across well. There's diamonds and a bunch of bad guys. There's an auction for a car. A kind of cool helicopter scene. A jailbreak scene. And each of these is tied together by the loosest of threads. This is the kind of movie where a TV reporter brings a wanted criminal who has broken out of jail to his reception dinner. Logic has no place here. The movie is fairly short, but it feels longer because it's not always much fun to watch. This all culminates in a weird climax set at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. There's some fun action moments, but it feels far too extreme, pushing the boundaries of anything realistic or believable. It's tonally off and acts a good summation of a movie that never makes a whole lot of sense.

As you can tell, I wasn't a big fan of Money Talks. I liked the cast, but the script is fairly awful. Even with decent performances, the cast cannot elevate the material. The movie isn't very funny. It's enjoyable to watch Tucker do his thing, but I'm not sure I laughed at all during the course of the film. The action is lackluster, too. This translates into a weak, forgettable film that has far too many flaws to be enjoyable. There's a reason it took me decades to see this film and I realize now I wasn't missing much.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Rush Hour, Nothing to Lose, The Fifth Element