The Brass Teapot

Alice (Juno Temple) and John Macy (Michael Angarano) is a young couple that is facing economical difficulties. John is a loser that has been working as salesman in a lousy job in order that Alice concludes the college. However, the ambitious Alice aims a top position and cannot find a job. When John is fired from his job, he has a car accident with Alice on the road in front of an antique house. Alice sees a brass teapot and steals it. Soon she discovers that the teapot is magic and makes money whenever they hurt themselves. The couple is visited by Dr. Ling (Stephen Park) that tells that they should give up of the teapot; otherwise they will be destroyed by the evil power. But the greedy Alice does not want to stop and reaches a next level of meanness.

"The Brass Teapot" is a dark comedy of one joke, a young ordinary couple in love with each other that hurts each other to make money. The story has funny moments, the sexy Juno Tempo shows off most of the time but the plot could have a message against greed and how far a person would go for money. Anyway this movie entertains in a Sunday afternoon. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Loucos por Dinheiro" ("Crazy for Money")

Alice (Juno Temple) married John (Michael Angarano) despite the fact that he is not a success at business. John works as a telemarketer while Alice sends out her resume again and again without landing a job. Former classmates sneer. But, Alice loves John and visa versa and they enjoy each other's company despite scrambling to pay the rent. Yet, one fateful day, Alice and John get in a minor car wreck near an antique shop. There, while waiting for tows, Alice spies a brass teapot and is strangely, strongly drawn to it. When the owner is not looking, Alice grabs the pot and runs. The couple arrives home and, the next day, Alice accidentally burns herself with a curling iron. All of a sudden, the teapot starts spewing out paper bills, some very large. Guessing the secret, she and John start to mildly beat, pinch, and stumble themselves until they have quite a large fortune. A strange Asian man comes to the house to warn them the teapot is "no good" and they should get rid of it. Not listening, the couple buys a mansion in an exclusive neighborhood and dines at posh places. In time, thieves rob their safe and hurting themselves no longer works except for a few bucks. But, Alice soons finds another way to make the teapot give up the cash. Nevertheless, Alice has developed a dark nature that scares her husband. Can John convince her to let them give the pot away? This is a clever and amusing film but its not for all. There are some risqué concepts and scenes some won't enjoy. Nevertheless, the beautiful Temple and mildly cute Angarano are very funny while the scenery, costumes, and direction are definite assets. If you loved I Dream of Jeannie or a fan of Temple's, The Brass Teapot will reward you with an evening's enjoyment.

The idea of the movie is not new. Maybe the "catalyst" is sort of fresh (no pun intended), but overall you know where this is heading early on. Even more so if you read what the movie is about. I hadn't and the German title of the movie is a bit weird - injury award/compensation would be a translation. But it's not for the viewer of the movie (the movie isn't that bad anyway ;) ).

It's a pretty solid B-movie, with solid acting. The plot moves along nicely and even when it hurts and seems implausible it still kind of works. There's not too many highlights in this one, but rather a stream that can be entertaining.

"The Brass Teapot" started out as quite alright and lasted so up until just after the mid-point or there about, then the steam started to escape out of the kettle (if you get the pun), and it drastically went down in speed and lost appeal fast.

The story is about a struggling young couple who happen to come across a magical brass teapot that has the ability to conjure forth money whenever there is pain and misery in its vicinity. And while every seems to be grand and wonderful with all the money in the world at hand, the curse that the teapot bears soon starts to take a toll on the couple.

I will say that the storyline was good and it had some very interesting moments and aspects. And there were also moments throughout the movie that were great and funny. But it just started to become a dragged out pain to sit through the movie somewhere after the mid-point.

Acting-wise, then "The Brass Teapot" does have some good actors and actresses to the cast list. And it is good to see talents that are in the movie for the talents and not just because they are glamorous and famous.

"The Brass Teapot" had potential, but it just wasn't fully put to use. While I enjoyed the first part of the movie, I ended up with my phone in my hand a couple of times throughout the last part. And as such, because the movie failed to keep my attention, then I am rating "The Brass Teapot" a mere mediocre 5 out of 10 stars.

How far would a person go to earn easy money?

The idea of being able to earn money from pain is not only a masochist's wet dream, but it provides the potential for a film with a lot of moral complexity and moral questioning. I was fine with the director trying to get a few laughs from it, but I don't quite understand why they didn't further explore the darker side of this concept, as it would have really set this film apart from the rest.

There was one point near the end of the film that made me cry, as it showed the vulnerability of humans and how easily they can be corrupted, but even that quickly subsided and turned out to be a red herring, the film continuing down its cliché and comedic path instead.

I'd love to see a different director attempt this film again, but take it more seriously. I honestly think it has potential. The film as it currently exists is worth a watch, but pretty forgettable and you won't be thinking much about it afterwards.