CA$H Review

When the trailer for new Sean Bean thriller Ca$h turned up, I commented here on ScreenAnarchy that it looked a little dubious. Having now watched the film, I can unequivocally confirm that it is indeed a little dubious. In fact, it veers from dubious, to trashily entertaining, to downright bizarre.

In a completely unnecessary, yet hilarious, plot point which the trailer cannily holds back, Sean Bean in fact plays two roles (yes, like Double Impact) - that of Pyke Kubic, a glum-looking Brit thief, and his brother, an unnamed redneck version of Pyke with a bigger mullet, earring and comedy sideburns. Pyke's brother is in prison after taking the heat for a robbery gone wrong. Whilst trying to evade the police his spoils were dumped over a bridge and onto the bonnet of Sam Phelan's (Chris Hemsworth) aging station wagon. Over-joyed (after quickly dismissing the moral dilemma), Sam and his immeasurably dim-witted but hot wife, Leslie (Victoria Profeta), set about spunking what they can on a white Range Rover (subtle), flat screen TV and assorted furniture. On route, they stop by to pay off the remainder of their mortgage and give their bank manager the finger. You see, in a topical tilt to proceedings, Sam and Leslie have been out of a job, heavily in debt and struggling with repayments. So, all is now looking rosy for the excitable couple... until Pyke turns up from the UK to pay his brother a visit. He vows to return all the ca$h that's been taken, and here's the killer... including whatever they've already spent! Arghhhhhh.

Pyke eventually tracks down the culprits and sets about retrieving the (twice) stolen ca$h, most of which can simply be withdrawn from various banks. However, to pay back what they've already spent he has to employ some more persuasive tactics than simply using a gruff British accent on them. And he won't settle for anything but ha$d (I mean hard) ca$h.

The tone lurches from fairly vicious crime thriller, to screwball comedy and back in no time at all. As suspected, Bean is eminently watchable, though, needless to say, this is far from his best work... one minute he's Jason Bourne, the next he's waiting for breakfast, specs on, resembling a dishevelled school teacher the morning after one too many. What could have been breezy B-movie fare turns out just plain odd, with the young couple totally unconvincing and with a plot arc that sees them make unfathomable decisions with ludicrous results. By the time you're watching a topless Bean do t'ai chi in their living room, it's game over.

There are some feather-weight comments thrown about on the corrupting nature of money (particularly ca$h) and for a while there's some novelty value in Bean doing sums out loud as he accounts for every lost penny. Despite being (seemingly) aware of its own silliness, overall it's just too absurd to take seriously, and too flat to be a trashy giggle.

The UK DVD is out to buy via Momentum from 1st March.