Where the Money Is
Linda Fiorentino is her lean, sexy self as Carol, a former prom queen who's grown up to be a nurse in an old-age home, which isn't quite what she imagined her future would be. She's married to her prom king, Wayne (Dermot Mulroney), who's grown a little dull. Then Henry (Paul Newman) gets delivered into her care. He's an imprisoned bank robber who has had a stroke. Or has he? Carol begins to try to suss him out, even going so far as to straddle him in his wheelchair and fondle his ears, but it's not until she pushes him into a reservoir that he breaks his masquerade. Carol, desperate to get some excitement in her life, convinces Henry to pull a job with her. She starts casing banks and scoping out armored cars. When Wayne gets jealous of the time she's spending with Henry, he gets pulled into the deal--and a heist is underway. What makesWhere the Money Isclick isn't the fairly standard plot, it's the character details. Written in part by E. Max Frye--who wroteSomething Wild(one of the best and most unappreciated movies of the 1980s)--the film consistently manages to give every character, no matter how small, something that makes them seem real. Though the pace starts out slow, and there are some not entirely convincing story elements, once the heist starts all this nuance pays off--every complication produces real tension because you've gotten to know Carol, Henry, and Wayne so well. Newman's effortless performance shows how he's stayed a star through five decades.--Bret Fetzer