Mo' Money

Mo' Money is a 1992 American romantic crime comedy-drama film directed by Peter Macdonald, and written by Damon Wayans, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Stacey Dash, Joe Santos, John Diehl, Harry Lennix, Bernie Mac (in his film debut), and Marlon Wayans. The film was released in the United States on July 24, 1992.[2]

This article is about the film. For the film's soundtrack, see Mo' Money (soundtrack).
Mo' Money
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Macdonald
Produced byMichael Rachmil
Written byDamon Wayans
Starring
Music byJay Gruska
CinematographyDon Burgess
Edited byHubert C. de la Bouillerie
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • July 24, 1992 (1992-07-24)
Running time
89 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million
Box office$40,227,006[1]

Plot

Ted Forrest (Richard E. Butler) who works for the Dynasty Card Company is murdered by Keith Heading (John Diehl) and his men on the street, they switch the tape before police arrive. Johnny Stewart (Damon Wayans) is a lifelong con-man who meets a girl, Amber Evans (Stacey Dash), and tries to impress her by cleaning up his act and doing things the honest way.

He becomes a mailroom clerk at the credit card firm where she works and soon finds that he needs money to impress Amber. So, he develops a scheme to commit identity theft (though this term was not used for the crime in 1992) with the credit card information of deceased cardholders to which he has access due to his mailroom position.

He justifies his actions because he knows that he is only stealing from the company and not harming the individual cardholders. Chris Fields (Mark Beltzman) trains Johnny how to do the job, until Keith threatens Chris in the men's restroom making him feel scared. Lt Walsh (Joe Santos) asks Chris questions about Keith,Chris is stabbed and killed by Keith's hitman in the subway station. Lt Walsh investigates Chris's murder and find credit card receipts on him. Keith promotes Johnny from mailroom clerk to supervisor to replace Chris who was killed.

With the help of his brother and fellow conman Seymour (Marlon Wayans), he charges large amounts of money to the cards with the intention of impressing Amber. The supervisor, Keith Heading (who is responsible for a virtual stolen credit card empire), records Johnny stealing a returned credit card and cons him into joining his credit card ring.

Seymour takes the stolen credit card trying to buy a four fingered ring, but a security alarm came on saying card stolen. Seymour tries to escape but is caught by mall security and questioned by police.

The police authorized a sting operation on Seymour to tape Keith's conversation and to capture him. Lt Walsh becomes furious about the sting operation. Keith's hitman is trying to kill Johnny for blackmail until he shoots Walsh in the arm. Keith kidnaps Seymour and Johnny goes after him until he escapes. Keith tries to kill Johnny by shooting him in the shoulder.

A fight ensues between them until Johnny kills him by hanging him. Seymour and Amber visit Johnny lying in the hospital bed injured and decides to settle down.

Cast
  • Damon Wayans — Johnny Stewart / Anton Jackson / Blaine Edwards (cameo)
  • Stacey Dash — Amber Evans
  • Joe Santos — Lt. Raymond Walsh
  • John Diehl — Keith Heading
  • Bernie Mac — Club Doorman
  • Harry J. Lennix — Tom Dilton
  • Marlon Wayans — Seymour Stewart
  • Mark Beltzman — Chris Fields
  • Quincy Wong — Eddie
  • Kevin Casey — Lloyd
  • Larry Brandenburg — Businessman
  • Garfield — Rock
  • Alma Yvonne — Charlotte
  • Richard E. Butler — Ted Forrest
  • Matt Doherty — Kid
  • Evan Lionel Smith — Detective Mills
  • Rondi Reed - District Attorney

Production

The movie was filmed in Chicago, Illinois in 64 days from July 16 to September 18, 1991.

Reception

The film had a mostly negative reception. Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times recalled that "there are amusing things in 'Mo’ Money'—the chemistry of the Wayans team, the paterfamilias routine of Joe Santos as a good cop, the piquant sexiness of Stacey Dash—but they get steamrollered by all the high-tech crash-bang movie machismo."[3] Hal Hinson wrote in The Washington Post that Wayans, "the 'In Living Color' star, who wrote and executive-produced this new picture, has a handful of these sublimely blank moments in 'Mo' Money,' but not nearly enough to anesthetize us to the film's painful deficiencies."[4] The New York Times' Janet Maslin wrote that "the film would have been helped by more directorial spark than is supplied by Peter MacDonald, who is effectively stumped by the screenplay's split personality. Some of the material is played as comedy [...] but a lot of the film hinges on some intrigue involving a corporate swindle, and neither the scheme nor the villains are compelling."[5] The film received a slightly more favorable review from Variety, which stated that the "loosely structured film has trouble meshing its very funny gag scenes with rough action footage, but it should earn mucho change from escapist fans."[6] It holds a rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews.[7]

Box office

The film debuted at No. 1 at the box office in the United States,[8] grossing $12,385,415 during its opening weekend. It ultimately finished with $40,227,006 at the North American box office. The film was released in the United Kingdom on December 18, 1992, and opened on #5.[9]

Home media

DVD was released in Region 1 in the United States on January 1, 2002, and also Region 2 in the United Kingdom on 17 June 2002, it was distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

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See also

References
  1. "Mo' Money (1992)". Box Office Mojo. 1992-09-08. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  2. "Mo Money(1992)". Yahoo movies. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  3. Wilmington, Michael (1992-07-27). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Mo' Money' Overdoses on Blood, Guts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  4. "'Mo' Money' (R)". Washington Post. 1992-07-25. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  5. Maslin, Janet (1992-07-25). "Review/Film; A Scruffy Street Hustler In the Corporate World". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  6. "'Mo' Money'". Variety. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  7. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mo_money
  8. Fox, David J. (1992-07-28). "'Mo' Money' Takes In Most Money". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  9. "UK Weekend Box Office 18th December 1992 - 20th December 1992". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
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