Product Details

• Actors: Chevy Chase, Penelope Ann Miller, Armand Assante, Christopher McDonald, Robert Loggia
• Directors: Leslie Greif
• Writers: Harry Basil, Leslie Greif, Ray Cooney
• Producers: Barbara Kearney, Brad Siegel, Cary Glieberman, Cindy Carroll
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Romanian
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: March 27, 2007
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000LPS49I
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,300 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When a movie title has the word "funny" in it, viewers have an expectation that the film will incite at least a few laughs. In Funny Money, mild-mannered white-collar accountant Henry Perkins (Chevy Chase) literally stumbles upon a bag full of money, through a series of improbable mishaps. Mayhem ensues when he finds himself the illegal recipient of a few million dollars. Since it's mob money--and since he doesn't want the tough guys to think he stole from them--Henry does what anyone would do: He steals from them and then tries to outsmart the Mob. This movie isn't without a few chortles, but the problem with Funny Money is it's not nearly as humorous as the characters seem to believe it is. And the people we most care about are given thankless roles. Penelope Ann Miller can always be counted on to balance sexiness with astute comedic timing. But here, as Henry's put-upon wife, Miller's skills are wasted and spends too much time off screen. In the end, the film plays like a tired and overly long version of a Saturday Night Live skit. --Jae-Ha Kim

Product Description
Leslie Greif directs this adaptation of Ray Cooney's hit British play, a throwback farce about mistaken identity. Chevy Chase plays Henry Perkins, a listless late-middle-aged executive in a wax fruit company; his wife, Carol (Penelope Ann Miller), is similarly bored, a struggling sculptor and housewife in Hoboken, NJ. On his way home from work to a surprise birthday party Carol is throwing, he accidentally switches briefcases with a Russian mobster. He opens the suitcase at a local bar and discovers five million dollars inside. He rushes home and tries to arrange a flight to Barcelona for Carol and him so they can take the money and run. Detective Sergeant Genero (Armand Assante) shows up later; he saw Henry at the bar and is suspicious of his actions. The Perkins, along with their friends Vic and Gina Johnson (Christopher McDonald and Alex Meneses), concoct an elaborate plan to fool the detective, which is only complicated by Carol getting sloppy drunk, the arrival of a homicide detective (Kevin Sussman), a famous gallery owner (Rebecca Wisocky), Henry's boss (Robert Loggia), a frustrated standup comic cabbie ( Guy Torry), two more identical briefcases, and the party guests.

Features:Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1/16x9) • All About The Money • Looking For Comedy In Romania • Behind-The-Scenes • Poster & Still Gallery

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better British, August 17, 2007

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Some things just sound better with a British accent, and that's the problem with this American adaptation of the farcical play by Ray Cooney. Obviously intended for the British stage and audience, the plot is about the complications that arise when the lead character Henry Perkins (an ancient looking Chevy Chase) accidentally switches briefcases with a tough-looking guy on the train, and discovers that he is the new custodian of a large and undoubtedly illegal fortune in notes and bearer bonds.

Perkins decides to take the money and run, but his young wife (Penelope Ann Miller) remains unconvinced. The arrival of an undercover cop (Armand Assante), and a comedian moonlighting as a cab driver (or vice versa), and then their friends Vic and Betty, followed by another police officer, and then even more minor characters, leads to an amazing and absolutely befuddling sequence of variable identities, assumption-leaping and confusion that could only come from the pen of funnyman Cooney.

What the film lacked was the dry and bawdy (yet always hysterically funny) British comedic inflections and delivery, which made some of the truly great moments fall rather flat. The cast does their best given the Americanization of the plot, but this would have been a heck of a movie with a British cast. This version - 3.5 stars




Amanda Richards, August 18, 2007

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so funny, October 22, 2007

By	Jeffrey A. Thompson (Iowa City, IA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a fan of Chevy Chase and he is good in this movie. Miller is good too. All the acting is good. The problem with the movie is plot. It is his birthday, he finds the money, his wife gets "discovered" as an artist, and the wife is having a surprised birthday party for him. So many small things to wrong in the movie to keep the certain characters in the plot, it makes the whole thing uncomfortable. It is like a "Fawlty Towers" episode on steroids without the laughs. There a few chuckles in the movie, but it just doesn't justify the frenetic pacing. Penelope does the best she can with a strange role. She plays a depressed drunk for most of the movie. Chevy hits his part just right, but he isn't given much to work with. Even before I read that it was a movie made from a play, I knew it was a movie made from a play. It had a claustrophobic feel. Most of the action takes place within the house.

The movie frustrated me more than made me laugh. It just was not funny.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chevy Chase really does put the funny in Funny Money!, August 14, 2007

By	J. Pelliccia (Sarasota, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was lucky enough to see this film shown before the public at the Sarasota Film Festival. I'm glad I got to see it with Chevy Chase in the audience. It was worth it. This movie is very funny! It is great to see Chevy Chase back on the screen. The film is well done for a low budget and full of animated characters that will have you laughing hysterically!