Free Money (1998)

Overrated

One of my all time favorites.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Sven "The Swede" Sorenson (Marlon Brando) is a feared prison warden. His only weaknesses are his two twin daughters Liv and Inga. The girls lie to him about being pregnant forcing their boyfriends Bud Dyerson (Charlie Sheen) and Larry (Thomas Haden Church) into shotgun weddings. The Swede murders an escaped prisoner. FBI agent Karen Polarski (Mira Sorvino), the daughter of corrupt Judge Rolf Rausenberger (Donald Sutherland), investigates and finds a pattern of killings. The boys decide to escape the tyranny of The Swede by robbing a train carrying disused bills to be burned by the Treasury.There is an ugliness to this film. Brando is cartoonishly ugly. The girls are poor actors in their one and only credit. They probably got the job because they're twins and they're pretty enough. The boys have their own ugliness in that they're dumb but not in a funny way. None of this is funny. The most notable aspect is that this is Brando second to last film. It's better to remember The Score as his last. At least, that one is pretty good and he gets to leave on a high note. This one is a dark comedy that isn't any fun.

Fargo 1996; Free Money 1998. Meaningless title. Something like the Coens' masterpiece weirdly reflected in a distorting mirror. Written on the hoof. There's the big Swedish-American boss man father figure, with a moustache; the crooked idiot son-in-law --- doubled up: stupid and stupider. Well, maybe the resemblances aren't that great. Perhaps this was all set somewhere in Canada. It does seem though as if Marlon had seen Fargo, and decided to splash out and do his own thing in the manner of. I don't actually regret having watched this, but I certainly would not recommend it with enthusiasm to anybody else, unless they wanted to gawp and gape at Marlon's exceptionally stupendous circumference. Like someone said: a big waist of former talent.Fact is, everything about this film seemed totally pointless, and it's difficult to know what to say about it. Ms Sorvino was straight up and rather good, and so were the ditzy twin daughters. As far as they went. Donald Sutherland was entirely unnecessary. Charlie Sheen appeared to be trying hard. His sidekick I've never seen before, but he was supposed to be another Swede (judging by his name and dyed blonde hair) and he was convincingly dumb, and permanently puzzled. I empathized with him. There's a sheriff called Knudsen, which is a Danish name. Some of the characters were speaking a subtitled foreign language --- French-Canadian? Other reviewers have explained the story. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful.

Very little to like here, even if you love Brando. Although incredibly overweight in this one (and probably without extra padding),he remained true to his character despite having very little to work with. Sutherland's brief appearance is hardly more than a cameo and wasn't given any chance to show his stuff. The two leads were more than adequate with their portrayal, however, the weak screenplay and unfunny farcical plot cannot be save by good, named actors. Waste of time and money. At last the casting was decent, although little or no character development wasted the talent. The best part was the train wreck, which pretty much sums up the movie.

Marlon Brando had long since lost interest in acting when he made this film. His performance as "The Swede" is the worst of his career, and that is precisely what he intended it to be. He doesn't overact. Instead, he simply acts in a bizarre fashion and pokes fun at his embarrassingly gargantuan girth. The scene where Brando climbs over the toilet stall is probably the worst, funniest moment in the history of cinema. As we witness him fall head-first into a toilet, it is hard to believe that we are watching the same actor who starred in A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and The Godfather.I guess the real question is why Marlon behaved like this in his later years. Was he sick of the movie business? Did he just like making a complete and utter fool out of himself? I guess we'll never know. But this film serves as a fascinating study as to what bad acting is all about.On that note, watch fellow acting veteran Donald Sutherland as he struggles to deliver his lines, embarrassed at himself for agreeing to participate in this travesty.