Ca$h

Although the execution of this film is only so-so - it straddles the line between crime thriller and quirky comedy and is not quite successful in either genre - I'd recommend watching it for Sean Bean alone. For this is a film that Bean completely dominates, appearing in almost every scene, with tons of dialogue and acting opportunity, and acting everyone else off the screen in the process.

It almost feels like the film has been written as a tribute to Bean and I'm not complaining. He's a hoot as a criminal dedicated to tracking down every cent of his stolen cash, bringing plenty of his trademark deadpan humour to the part. Bean exerts an air of authority, of quiet menace, like few other actors and his presence here is second to none. His character is a guy who rarely has to resort to violence, instead controlling people through his personality alone. He's fantastic, the best I've seen him in years.

The rest of the film is okay, but the director can't hide the fact that most of the budget was spent on getting Bean and the rest of it feels rather cheap and lacklustre. It's amusing to see Chris Hemsworth, pre-THOR fame, appearing here and giving a rather weak performance in contrast to Bean. And the ending is one of the lamest cop-outs I've seen in a good while. Thank God Bean is here to distract us from these shortcomings.

Cash is not a bad movie itself, but the plot seems somewhat factitious - as the activities take place in the present U.S. where you can hardly find shops without security cameras, or easy opportunities to drive around without number plates... And the choices made by the couple seem odd as they did not obtain the money through crime or gambling. Constant calculations and amounts become soon a pain in the neck :)

Sean Bean is great as always, the other actors are nothing special... The movie is a good and adequately lengthy entertainment when there is nothing to do or the weather allows no outdoor activities. But it is definitely neither Michael Mann nor Guy Ritchie.

and nothing more. at first sigh. because the script is not an inspired one and the idea too seductive for explore in the best manner. the acting is far to be bad but not more than decent. a film about a suitcase with money and large references to The Box. but, unfortunately, it is not enough. so, the decent job of Sean Bean who looks to create a mix of humor and thriller who is only in few scenes reasonable. a film of a great idea. not bad, not good, only an exercise to use different ingredients, few actors and crumbs of action movies for a story who could be interesting but remains only chain of conventional solutions.

There's some modest potential here in the relationships between the married couple, who accidentally come into some stolen cash, and the mysterious gunman who comes to retrieve it. A better script might have exploited all three ways of these relationships -- how they change, how they twist, how they surprise us as well as the characters themselves. However, while the script occasionally hints at these possibilities, it does little to exploit them and the result is a passable time-killer with most of the limitations of a TV movie. A little tweaking could have made it funnier or scarier or kinkier or more satiric, or could have infused it with more action, but instead "Ca$h" takes no chances and stays in the see-it-and-forget-it mode.

Chris Hemsworth and Victoria Profeta make a blandly attractive couple. Sean Bean is always watchable but he's not knocking himself out here, probably because he has so little to worth with. Curiously, even at age 50 or so, he provides more of the movie's "beefcake" than does young Mr. Hemsworth.

This is a movie that you watch, get some fun out of it and forget when it's over. And this is meant as a compliment.

We might argue what the purpose of cinema is, but Ca$h has an entertaining story with premises that are mostly believable. The cast delivers an overall decent performance. However, with less known actors it would have been just one of many B-movies.

Sean Bean is excellent and there is no need to elaborate on that. Chris Hemsworth reveals his limitations as an actor. When you see him in Ca$h you understand he's been a logical choice for the role of Thor which came out roughly a year later. Victoria Profeta was my treat in the movie. With her looks and skills i wonder where she'd been before and makes me ponder what it takes to make it in Hollywood.