Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Michael_Elliott Free Money (1998) ** 1/2 (out of 4) This Coen Brothers rip-off features Marlon Brando playing a sadistic warden who is told by his twin teenage daughters that they're pregnant. The father then makes the two dimwits (Charlie Sheen, Thomas Haden Church) marry his daughters but then they all get mixed up in a train robbery. FREE MONEY cost a total of $30 million to make and features the likes of Brando, Sheen, Church, Donald Sutherland, Mira Sorvino, David Arqiette and Martin Sheen yet it wasn't even able to find a theatrical release in America. This is a pretty bizarre movie from the start and it really makes you wonder what was going on during the production because nothing in the story ever makes too much sense. I'm not sure if it's true but I've heard that Brando pretty much was running the show and actually got this project off the ground, babied it and got it made. Apparently he was calling a lot of the shots so perhaps this is why it doesn't make too much sense. It's really hard to understand what the film is going for because it starts off as a silly comedy and then we get one backstory after another thrown onto it and before long you feel as if you're watching some sort of social drama. Sorvino plays a FBI agent who shows up because escaped prisoners keep turning up shot in the back of the head and then there's a side story dealing with her father (Sutherland) being the judge who is helping Brando with the murders. This entire point of the plot is brought up but never cleared up. The entire bit with the train robbery doesn't ever go anywhere and this part of the story takes you down one road and just drops you off without answering anything. The entire movie is just so weird that I couldn't help but find some mild entertainment out of it because it's clear the cast were at least giving it their all. This includes Brando who I really enjoyed and especially early on when he was playing the nutty father-in-law who would stop at nothing to ruin the men who took his daughter's flowers. Both Sheen and Church seem to be having fun playing dumb. When Martin shows up at the end it's a nice little trick but it's obvious he and Brando aren't filming at the same time so it somewhat takes away from the reunion. FREE MONEY is a hard film to recommend because most people will probably hate it or just be so confused by it that they turn it off. Fans of the cast or just weird movies might get some mild entertainment from it.

merklekranz Everyone in this movie, Marlon Brando, Donald Sutherland, Charles Sheen, Thomas Hayden Church, Mira Sorvino, seem to simply be going through the motions, yet occasionally, bright moments of very dark comedy arise from the murky script. Speaking of the script, it just never gives the feeling of being fully developed, the actors appear to be simply freewheeling as they go along. Nevertheless, the film is watchable, and there is a chance that repeat viewings may actually improve the experience. A curiosity at best for Brando's over the top performance, a bad film at worst for the uneven script, "Free Money" might have just enough weirdness to survive. - MERK

nancysemblance Watching Marlen Brando on screen is like watching a master carpenter chiseling intricate details into a piece of mahogany. Brando's acting is the ONLY thing that makes this movie watchable. The plot is inane and laughable (not comic). The other big name actors seem to be making desperate attempts to give the characters they portray some modicum of humanity... these characters have the humanity of wet cardboard. Everything about the technical side of this film is either mediocre or just plain awful. The director throws freeze-frame and slow-motion shots about with impunity. The incidental music is cartoonish and destroys any hint of dramatic effect. It's not something I really look for in a movie, but even the wardrobe was way off. The venerable Brando couldn't take focus away from the awful rags they had him decked out in. I've heard this movie called "David Lynch-esquire" and "irreverently funny"... it is neither. David Lynch films are borne of wicked creativity - this film was in no way creative. And don't confuse irreverence with stupidity.

Captain1982 I watched this today and really enjoyed it. I looked through the credits and saw the name Martin Sheen and remembered Apocalypse Now. Both Brando and Martin together again really interesting i thought to myself. So i watched the film waiting and wondering when he would come into the film. It was disappointing that he was only in it for less than 10 seconds but I thought what he says to Marlon is equally funny and brilliant.I thought the film to be a bit thin on the relationship between Sutherland and Sorvino but the film is great enough to sit next to the other DVDs in my collection.RECOMMENDED.