Hard Cash

Moviecut—Hard Cash

of course this is the most horrible movie ever seen in my life. watching it was so painful........... so don't watch it even if you get it for free.

In essence, this movie constitutes 98 minutes of my life I can never have back. The script for this film appears to be accidentally written by a feline walking on a writer's keyboard. This reminds me of a movie I once saw where the cameras followed hollywood stars around without their permission to claim big names in the cast only, the makers of Run for the Money had permission. On a more serious note though, I think that Kilmer and Slater were kidnapped and forced to act. At one point I think I actually saw a garrot wire around Val Kilmer's neck. It wouldn't be a big surprise if all movie funding came from the Russian mafia. Some of the "catch phrases" in the movie sounded like they were intended for a russian audience like "time to make the donuts" instead of "time to go to work." The best (worst) part of the movie has to be the car chase, bar none. I have seen better background work on SNL in the 80's. Out.

How could a movie with Val Kilmer AND Christian Slater go so wrong? It starts out strong with a clever theft plan, but then the plan AND the movie sort of fall apart (although the theft scenes are fun to watch). Both Val and Christian bring their usual acting skills to bear, but their characters are not well written, so we end up not really caring what happens to them. The dialog is weak for most of the movie, with no really memorable lines, and there are a number of poorly supported plot twists, such as the cuckolding and betrayal among a trio of secondary characters and the sudden death of another secondary character (the circumstances surrounding his death are somewhat ambiguous, which only further weakens the movie). Add to this a collection of clichés (such as Christian Slater's casting aside the stolen money because his daughter doesn't want him to be a thief anymore), and you have a movie which leaves the viewer feeling unimpressed and cheated out of the time it took to watch.

Hard Cash was sold to the USA network as the film Run For the Money. You can tell it was intended for the theaters, but after seeing the film I am sure its studio was anxious to get rid of it. The new USA network version is edited to a T, leaving the film with some HYSTERICAL lines. Colder Blooded Killers are left saying such wonderful lines as, "lets get the freak out of here!" Or, "I'm going to get the poop out of you." Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, and Daryl Hannah must have lost a bar beat to appear in this film. Each actor has the blank expression on their face, as if to say, "Help." You'll have a more entertaining time sticking your head in an oven then watching this film.

No one else has had the heart to criticize this film, so I guess I'll be the one to stick the knife in. This was one of the worst films I've ever seen. The entire production was amateurish, as if some guys got a hold of a camera and film and decided on the spot to make a movie, and then somehow got a few name actors to appear in it. Whoever Predrag Antonijjevic, the director is, there should be a law against him ever making another film. The story is nearly incomprehensible. Christian Slater plays the head of a crew of thieves who rob an off-track betting parlor and steal a lot of money that unbeknownst to them was marked by a crooked FBI agent, played by Val Kilmer, who planned to take it for himself. Kilmer gets his money back and kidnaps Slater's little girl to force him to do another job for him. Verne Troyer (Mini Me in the Austin Powers flick) and Daryl Hannah play supporting roles as members of Slater's crew. When Verne turns in the best acting job in the film, you know you're in trouble. Slater sleepwalks through the movie, and Kilmer acts like a retard most of the time, talking fast and mumbling his lines. Daryl Hannah screeches and appears intoxicated throughout the movie. The other people hired to fill out the story have absolutely no acting skills whatsoever. The direction is all over the place. Every scene looks as if it were done in one take with no concern for whether anyone could figure out what the actors were saying or doing. The action sequences were unworthy of even a "Dukes of Hazard" show. I have a new appreciation for the men who coordinate car chases on film. The only thing I can add is I hope Slater and Kilmer made enough for appearing in this disaster to buy back the negatives some day. Too bad Mystery Science Theater 3000 went off the air, because this film would have been perfect for them to spoof. Bag it and rock it.

The United States is concerned with its rampant crime yet never connects it to the glut of trashy movies like this in which guns are as common as ballpoints and which you shoot anybody whose shirt you don't like. Another worrisome trend, evident here as in many films, is the lack of trust between characters. Everybody's out to cheat, con and deceive everybody else. Sadly, that too often is the "modus operandi" of many Americans. Do the movies reflect the society or do they contribute to its failings by offering up tawdry entertainment such as this. The performances are mediocre, the story line often tortuously confusing and the dodgem car special effects crude and superfluous. Daryl Hannah, who has graduated from B to C pictures, has not learned anything about acting during her increasingly lengthy hiatus from fame. Nor have her scrawny legs got any better. In short, another evening wasted watching the decline of American "culture"

...and for "Run for the Money" the definitely did not spend a lot on the car scenes, the plot, the script, the actors, the special effects and the jokes. Well-known (to call them great would be an overstatement) actors and actresses such as Christian Slater, Darryl Hannah and Val Kilmer simply put in rubbish performances. I had a couple of laughs, but only because the whole thing is hilariously poor - and just gets worse and worse as you go along. I can't believe anyone ever wanted to finance this. A more appropriate title would have been "Run from the Money". I give it a 2 - simply because I did laugh twice, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

This movie received alot of negative reviews. The "special effects" were cheesy, especially the background car scenes. You could tell the actors were in a prop car in front of a blue screen. The editing was rough an alot of places. I actually didn't hate it as much as I thought I would after reading all these "worst film ever" reviews. Maybe that is what it takes. Expect the worst and you'll think it is "okay". Slater is good in this one. Kilmer is over the top but good as the quirky bad guy. I had fun with this movie. I thought it could have ended better, but overall, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen. It has the predictable "get me out of here before the bomb explodes" scene and the double crosses and such so don't expect anything new. If it comes on cable, you may want to check it out if nothing else is on. I wouldn't recommend going out of the way to rent/watch it though.

I dont know why so many people have written negative reviews of this movie. I found it really exciting with all the twists and the original heists. I hear people complaining about the fake background during the car chase scenes, so what, so did Pulp Fiction but I didnt hear anyone complain about that! The pace of the movie never lets up, and it has some really funny scenes, especially with the little dwarf and the Russian mafia. The last scene was a classic! The acting was not that bad, it didnt defer from the movie. Daryl Hannah looked hot for her age, and Christian Slater is still as cool as ever. I really enjoyed the heist scenes, especially the first one with the ambulance. That was really original and exciting. I cant understand how people can hate this movie and yet find something like One False Move so good, which I found to be long, boring and slow. 9/10 from me.