the keen wisdom of an elderly bank robber , the naive ambitions of a sexy hospital nurse , and a partnership that blossoms between the two are the fine components that make up a modest , little caper adventure entitled ` where the money is . '
the elderly bank robber is henry ( paul newman ) , a famous criminal that was only recently caught .
he has pulled off dozens of successful heists and has probably stashed away a small fortune .
always the shrewd thinker , he begins working on a plan to get out of jail .
this involves years of studying buddhism and self - hypnosis .
when he is prepared to execute his plan , he uses what he has learned to fake a stroke .
now a seemingly twitching vegetable , he is temporarily transferred to a state - run home .
carol ( linda fiorentino ) is the nurse that cares for him .
she 's a very bright person with a good heart .
yet , her life is a miserable waste of time .
the most exciting thing to do in town is to fix cars .
her days at the hospital facility are spent leading wheelchair calisthenics .
worse , she 's in a dead - end relationship with high - school sweetheart wayne ( dylan mcdermott ) .
they became a couple because they were king and queen of the prom .
to her , this made sense long ago .
but now , it 's a different story .
wayne seems equally bored with his life , but is content enough to stay put .
wayne 's greatest ambition is to become a night shift supervising foreman .
carol feels as lifeless as many of the other hospital patients , but she 's never been anywhere else and does n't see many other opportunities in life .
however , when henry falls under her care , her outlook begins to change .
the medical reports may state that he suffered a massive stroke .
carol , however , begins to grow suspicious that henry may just be faking it after all .
maybe she can get through to him , and maybe she can learn something about the money that he has stashed away .
the opening 30 minutes are filled with hilarious attempts of carol trying to bring henry ? back to life . '
and what are some of carol 's resuscitation techniques ?
perhaps an erotic lapdance might stir his senses .
if that fails , maybe she 'll try a little shock therapy by pushing him off a 20-foot high pier into the cold lake below .
when he finally comes out of his state of self - trance , the movie 's direction changes , though it remains equally if not more entertaining .
carol sees that henry is filled with charisma and self - assuredness .
she is invigorated by his commanding presence and refreshed by his vibrancy .
this , of course , puts wayne in an odd situation .
henry and carol 's bond grows stronger when they enter into an agreement to rob an armored car .
henry needs this heist because he is unable to retrieve his original stash .
meanwhile , this is carol 's ticket to a better life .
wayne is uncomfortable with the situation , but helps out nonetheless .
however , his lack of commitment threatens their success .
the heist sequence is suspenseful
, well paced , and casts the uneasy feeling that something will horribly go wrong .
` where the money is ' does more to spotlight newman and fiorentino
than it does to showcase a story about a nifty heist .
newman is the real joy of the film
, adroitly showing that at age 75 ,
he 's still really hot stuff .
he possesses a sly smile , displays a dominating attitude , and a projects a demeanor that is undeniably attractive
.
fiorentino is also a fun presence .
you root for her despite her sense of amorality .
sure , she wants to commit robbery and has little compunction about pushing a wheelchair - stricken man into a lake , but we can see that to escape her dead - end world , she needs to do something drastic .
with two charismatic characters such as these , it 's hard to ignore that ` where the money is ' is where the fun is .
well paced is where the fun is two charismatic characters filled with hilarious attempts adroitly he 's still really hot stuff the real joy of the film also a fun presence suspenseful undeniably attractive you root for her