Easy Money (1983 Film)
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''Easy Money'' is a 1983 American
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
starring
Rodney Dangerfield Jack Roy (born Jacob Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), better known by the stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, ...
,
Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for portraying tough, volatile characters, in a variety of genres, and for his collaborations with his best friend, Robert De Niro in the films ' ...
,
Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005) was an Irish actress. She received the Daytime Emmy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. She was a member of the American T ...
,
Candice Azzara Candice Azzara is an American character actress. Career In the summer of 1965, she appeared as Eve in ''On the First Day'', a one-act play written by David Graeme and directed by Charles Merlis at the 41st Street Playhouse in Manhattan. Bill ...
, and
Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She re ...
. It was directed by James Signorelli and written by Dangerfield, Michael Endler, P. J. O'Rourke and Dennis Blair. The original music score was composed by Laurence Rosenthal.
Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
performed the theme song "Easy Money" from his album '' An Innocent Man''.


Plot

Montgomery "Monty" Capuletti is a hard-living, heavy-drinking, pot-smoking, gambling family man who makes his living as a baby photographer in
New Dorp, Staten Island New Dorp ( ) is a neighborhood on the South Shore, Staten Island, South Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northw ...
. He loves his wife Rose but has a very tense relationship with his wealthy, snobbish mother-in-law, Mrs. Monahan, who runs a successful department store chain and hates the way Monty acts and lives. There is an added ethnic rivalry between Monty and his wife's family, as he is Italian and they are Irish. The irresponsible Monty cannot even pick up a
wedding cake A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at ...
for his engaged daughter Allison without fouling up. He and his best friend Nicholas "Nicky" Cerone are smoking marijuana while driving, and an accident destroys the cake. Allison's wedding to Julio goes off without a hitch, at least until the wedding night. After Mrs. Monahan dies unexpectedly, his family is in for an inheritance. Attorney Scrappleton reveals that Mrs. Monahan left a stipulation in her will that if Monty is able to curb his vices for a year by going on a diet and giving up drugs and gambling, he will receive $10 million. If not, the family gets nothing. Monty's gambling and drinking buddies are also interested in whether or not Monty can really give up everything and bet whether or not he will make it. Monty and Nicky go to the mother-in-law's department store and find awkward fashions, catering to a clientele which clearly does not include the likes of Nicky and Monty. Nicky argues that it may not be worth it to Monty if this is the kind of atmosphere he will be exposed to, but Monty points out he must tough it out to provide for his wife and daughters, not just him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Monahan's scheming nephew Clive Barlow does his best to undermine Monty's resolve so the money and department store can instead be left to him. Monty ultimately reforms. When the entire year is up, he and the family celebrate aboard a boat. To his chagrin though, Mrs. Monahan turns up. She had faked her own death simply to persuade her slovenly son-in-law to straighten up. Ultimately though, she gives the money to Monty on the basis he upheld her stipulation. Now rich, Monty and his family live in a mansion. Still in control, Mrs. Monahan denies Monty dessert and coffee then commands a beer she found in the refrigerator be thrown out. Monty gleefully agrees to each action then says he is heading out for a walk. Mrs. Monahan gloats about her actions and that she finally has Monty under control to her daughter's chagrin. However, Monty has actually proceeded to a hideaway under the house to join Nicky and his friends for pizza, poker, and beer.


Cast


Release


Box office

''Easy Money'' opened theatrically on August 19, 1983, and earned $5,844,974 in its opening weekend, ranking number one at the domestic box office, toppling the prior three-week #1 run of ''
National Lampoon's Vacation ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', sometimes referred to as simply ''Vacation'', is a 1983 American black comedy road film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy, and Chris ...
''. By the end of its run, the film grossed $29,309,766.


Critical reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds a 64% approval rating based on 11 reviews. Writing in the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', critic
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...
gave the film three stars out of four. He wrote that "the big discovery in the comedy 'Easy Money' is that Rodney Dangerfield, unlike most stand-up comics, does not need dialogue to be funny. He is funny just standing still—or his version of standing still, which includes nervous twitching, profuse sweating, pained expressions and rolling of the eyes." Siskel also called ''Easy Money'' "a film that's easy to like" and also praised Pesci's performance, calling him "the unsung hero of 'Easy Money,' an actor whose very appearance gives this little film a lot of class."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' gave the film a mixed rating, 2.5 stars out of 4. While Dangerfield had many funny scenes and the supporting cast was effective, Ebert felt the film was poorly-edited and suffered by blunting the "cynical and hard-edged" elements of Dangerfield's stage persona in an attempt to make him more likable.


See also

* List of American films of 1983


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Easy Money (1983 Film) 1983 films 1983 comedy films American comedy films Orion Pictures films Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films directed by James Signorelli Films with screenplays by Rodney Dangerfield Films scored by Laurence Rosenthal 1983 directorial debut films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films