Episode 15: Funny Money (2006)

This may be it.  We may have reached the nadir of Chevy Chase's filmography with the 2006 film from director Leslie Greif, Funny Money.  Based on a play by Ray Cooney, the film feels incredibly stage-bound and like a pale imitation of better screwball comedies.  Hold on to your sides, they're about to be split!

In Funny Money, Chase plays a fake fruit engineer whose boss (Robert Loggia) comes to visit his home on the same night that Chase finds a briefcase filled with five million dollars.  It's just one wacky cliche after another and a complete waste of all talent involved in the film. 

Mark, Chris, and Mike experienced this cinematic car crash so you don't have to.  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Weird. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Chasing Chevy Podcast.

(00:46):
I am one of your hosts from the Culture Cast, Christashio,
and I'm joined by my two good friends all the
way from the Projection Booth podcast, Mike White.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
You can call me mister.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
I fucking hate all of this already if we were
fucking thirty seconds in and I already hate this and
all the way from Cambridge and with Sean your friend
and mine Mark Begley.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
Turn your dick into the terminator bits you got, Yeah
was my Robert Loja. If you couldn't tell, well.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yeah, it was like he was here with us.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Dall's line deliveries are better than the line deliveries in
the actual film. And on this episode of the Chasing
Chevy Podcast, we're talking about a two thousand and six film.
That is, I would say, and this is on me.
I'm just gonna take responsibility right out of the gate
for picking this movie. This show is all about Chevy
Chase vehicle films, and this is a late late, late

(01:37):
late Chevy Chase vehicle film, much later than I think
anything else we're talking about. I think that this is
the oldest vehicle film of his that we're talking about
in terms of like conventionality the last laugh, I think
we will be talking about that. That's twenty nineteen. But
that's a Netflix movie, and that's very different. Like this
still feels like a quote real movie unquote at least

(01:59):
the yeah well ish yeah, oh it's ish all right,
as the kids are saying, but no, we're talkingilate ish yeah,
big ass pilot ish. We're talking about two thousand and
six is Funny Money, which is a bonus film technically
not part of the lineup of everything we're doing because
we're stopping at Vegas vacation technically with this show, which

(02:21):
is ninety seven. This show stops in ninety seven. This
movie comes out in two thousand and six, so we're
nine years removed from when this show is essentially ending.
So this bonus episode is is again like this is
a very late vehicle film. If you could see me,
I'm putting quotations in the air for those of us
who can see. But he is the lead, Yeah, he is,

(02:43):
and it is the movie. We watched the trailer before
we started recording, just and I wanted to verify to
myself that the movie was being sold as a chevy
Chase movie, which it was, which is why I made
sure we watched it, which is why they cast him
in the movie, which is why this movie even exists,
because goes, hey, I want to see chevy Chase in this,
in this British play that I feel like the description

(03:06):
of the British play when filmed and seen would be
its body or Paudrey. This is none of those things.
This I think is one of the worst things we've
ever watched collectively, the three of us, in terms of
mainstream things. But it is based on a play of
the same name from nineteen ninety six by Ray Cooney,
and this film does star chevy Chase in the lead

(03:28):
role as Henry Perkins, a man who switches briefcase burf
curses on the train with a Serbian warlord or drug
lord or gangster and so then gets the bright idea
to steal said money, which never goes AWRYE see No
Country for It's essentially stupid. No Country for old Men? Like,

(03:50):
I mean, god, like what happened if No Country for
Old Men was just dog shit all the way down?
You have funny money?

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, yeah, I was just gonna say, we can talk
about them is trying to think of all those I
was trying to think of all those films and stories
and plays I guess that involve this switching of money
thing and the accidental switch, And the only one I
could come up with was No Country of r Old Men.
I'm like, God, damn it, I'd rather be watching that.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, boy, And that's a low bar, because that movie's
amazing and this one is bad, just bad.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
But I don't think No Country Old Men has the
switcheroo of the brief.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Right right, It doesn't.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
It doesn't, but it's kind of the it's sort of
it's not comedy of errors, but it's that.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
So dark.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
Now I'm being chased by the baddies. I guess that's
really the connection. But there are there are multiple and
maybe some of you guys are usually better at remembering
this kind of stuff. There are cases of, oh, you know,
one guy puts the briefcase down on the floor, the
other guy puts it down or gal, and then they
accidentally pick up the wrong one and it leads to
this misadventure and mistake and identity in et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
But the key difference here is this is for briefcases,
if not more briefcase. You see what I did there
more briefcases, more than.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Four b Yeah.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
Yeah, this is the high comedy here because there's so
many briefcases. Because there's Chevy chases. There's Rebecca Waki, the
Madame Virginia is that are named the art critic.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
There's uh.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah sure, which is kind of like you know, Mama Danasy. Yeah,
so you should see her in commercials all the time,
and I'm.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
Like, Wow, she's in tons of shit. I'm like, I
know who that chal is. She's in like, she's in
every TV show over the last twenty years.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
She's only my favorite part of the movie. Yeah yeah,
I think she was she Romulan or I can't yeah,
but yeah, yeah. I mean, isn't it funny that they
make wax fruit? Isn't that funny official fruit? As the
trailer says.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, we're we're skipping our usual intro here, but I
just wanted to say I had high hopes. I've never
seen this before. I had high hopes only because when
the credits started, I was like, Oh, I was like,
we're getting a Pink Panther style animated credit sequence. They
actually so somebody bothered to take time to do this, and.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
They got your hopes up way too fucking high, way
too quick. They didn't. They foul.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, there's gonna be high jinks and it's gonna be
body snappy, there's gonna be repartee and there's gonna be quick.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
No, it's a farce. It's a farce, guys.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
Yes, as a fan, as a fan of the tenth
Avenue of Regulars, this really was like oh yeah, yeah,
like the animated sequence, like animated credits, like a thing
in the past. But when I saw this, I was like, wow,
this is great. In that jaunt Andrea Marcone music and stuff,
I was like, oh, okay, this is it's going to
be a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah yeah. And even the Wax Fruit Company, I was like, oh,
that's odd. That's an odd little touch, you know. I mean,
those those are real businesses. Somebody has to make those
stupid things right. And then shortly thereafter it went downhill immediately.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Pretty much from the next scene on when there's the
group therapy, which by the way, always goes well in
any film or television show. Group therapy is always a
spot for hilarity and laughs, just not in this movie.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
Well, it's such a great way for characters to provide
exposition about themselves, right, It's wonderful that we really get
to figure out what's going on with this couple. And yeah,
like this is for me still the okay part of
the movie. There's a moment where the movie just stops

(07:53):
dead and you go, oh, now we're watching a play, okay.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Exactly, yeah, holy it ain't that's truth? Yeah, there is,
there is. Yeah. Yeah, So all of a sudden, very
setbound guys, all of a sudden when they get to
his house, feels very much like and I don't have
to say a line as much as make a noise,
And I think y'all would probably look at me and go,
oh yeah, it's kind of like that too. Ah yeah,

(08:20):
so funny mock. It really at parts feels like The
Room with like big name actors, like they're they're stuck
in this house for what feels like the entire movie,
And I'm like, is this this is just the Room now,
but with Chevy Chase like and and it's actually trying
to be funny. And the way the room you know

(08:40):
quote was not in on the joke unquote until it
apparently was which it it never was, but I mean
the quality of filmmaking and the quality of the sets.
Once we get to the house, all of a sudden,
we can't become very Tommy Wizo esque. And that is
not a compliment at all, because this movie again has

(09:00):
the budget to hire Chevy Chase and Penelope and Miller
and Armanda Santi is that a twenty million dollar budget possibly.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
And Kevin Sussman and.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Robert Loja and Christopher Donald.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
Christopher McDonald is I do have to say one of
the highlights in the film. I like him and his
wife and second.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
Time we've seen him on this shelf because we saw
him in Dirty Work.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yeah, and Mike Mitch and Madame Virginia. She was enjoyable
in this, but man, the rest of them were so
terribly miscast.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Penelope and Miller is just I think she might be
the worst part of this movie because I don't know
she's doing the Mike how much under your skin to
get her doing the drunk shit, Because I was like, man,
I was sitting there thinking to myself, I was like, man,
I know how much Mike loves when characters play drunk,
and this is the like worst example of playing drunk,

(09:54):
like falling down pratt wall shit like oh, the slurring
of the words oh yeah yeah, doing flips a sudden
becomes true lies for a second.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna cinema sends you guys for
a second here, because that brings up one of the
things that got on my nerves multiple times. It is
noted that she is not a drinker, yet when she
is chowing down those.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Little chocolate oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
Things with the booze in them, she knows the name
of every child of every alcohol. If you're not if
you're not a drinker, you're not gonna know what the
fuck amaretto tastes like. You're not gonna know what what
tequila tastes like. You're not going to know any of that.
I'm sorry, that was idiotic, Like, I don't know, it
just it bugged me one. I'm like, how does she

(10:39):
know this? She's not a drinker, she doesn't know this
stuff of.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
One of the many minor idiotic things in this room.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah yeah, right right.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
Well, I have a question for you guys, which is,
why is Christopher MacDonald's wife dressed like a prostitute?

Speaker 1 (10:52):
So that moment where she sits on Robert Lowja's erect
penis and it inserts inside of her could happen, which
is such an off putting thing to have in anything.

Speaker 4 (11:03):
I kept thinking of Megalopolis. Look at this boner I got.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
Thankfully, I have not spent any time watching Megalopolis. Yet.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
She also kind of just reminded me that of a
Jersey girl or something like she's younger than him, she's
a trophy wife.

Speaker 4 (11:19):
Yeah, I get that, but I would have liked like
an accent or something to yeah through note other than
the because it almost looks like she's going in drag
because she's talking very normalacious seems very smart. And then
she's got this blue eyeshadow caked for days and I'm
just like, what is going on? Why are you dressed
like that?

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Because the script asked for it so she could sit
on Robert Loj's wiener.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
Yes, because we have foreshadowing with the viagra pills earlier
in the movie. Yes, because I guess he's just a
horny old man and giving given credit to the young
guy rather than to Chevy Chase, because he's the one
that I thought of those Bruce bananas all those years
to go Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
Bru's the bananas. Guys, It's all about Bruce Bananas.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
I love when the movie starts being shot in Romania.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
Yeah, well it's so funny because I guess, are they
shooting this on location or something.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Or part of it and then they're in Romania.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Well, because other times I'm just like, this looks like
a backlot set, especially whenever they open up the door,
I'm just like, well, that's the back lot out there,
you know. It just it looks so cheap. So many times.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Well again that's why I said it's like very wizo esque,
because it just makes me think of you know, you
have this establishing shots of Tommy and Greg running through
the park, like you've got Chevy Chase walking through Times Square,
and that's like and now we're in Romania. Now we're
clearly not anywhere near these places, because at one point
you can see the backyard of the house that Penelope

(12:52):
Ann Miller is in, and it does not look anything
like what the front of the house looks like. It
is literally like a dirt and like grass backyard. I'm
not even choking, and I don't I don't understand how
this movie feels so cheap. I just don't get it.
I just I mean, well, it's a twenty million dollar

(13:13):
movie and yet it looks I guess it's because they
I guess it's I guess it's because the whole point
of the movie was just to hire everybody.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Well, and part of it. I noticed shortly after they
stopped with the you know, the scenic New York street stuff,
I'm like, oh, as we get to the factory, oh,
this looks like a TV movie. Oh, And I thought, okay,
let me check on the director who hasn't hasn't directed
very much, but produces a lot of TV series and movies.

(13:43):
And it's like you sometimes you can tell, and they
hire a TV crew, so it's lit like a TV show,
And that to me. Other that and the you know,
set down stage play look of it was really off putting.
I mean, sometimes that can really work death trap or
something like that, where you know, my god, it's so

(14:03):
obvious this was a play we're in one house the
whole time and three characters, and this one we have
way more than three characters.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
But that can work.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
It can work, Okay like that, but that, yeah, I
noticed it said based on a plan, and I thought, oh,
are we going to be in one location for most
of the time, And then, as we pointed out already
the second Chevy walked in the door of the house,
I thought, we're going to be in the house the
rest of the time. I was thinking we were going
to be gallivanting around the world, and these guys were
going to be chasing him from Barcelona to Greece to

(14:35):
Italy to that, you know. And it's like, no, Bob, okay,
we Sante shows up, his brother shows up. I'm like, no,
we're staying here. We're staying right here. Taxi drivers shows up,
everybody starts showing up.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
At the house.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
It's like, okay, I got it. I know what's going on.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
Well, And then they tried to obfuscate it by going
outside every once in a while and keeping up with
that taxi driver. And I'm just like, wow, you are
definitely not the guy from Diehard who I like, actually
want to see, you know. Whenever they would cut down
to him, I'm like our gyle right, and it's just like, okay, yeah, him,
I like, but this guy, what a pain in the ass.

(15:17):
And you know what if the taxi leaves, you order
another one it's really okay, you don't need that taxi driver.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
What it's two thousand and six, You can't just order
another taxi? What? What we're like a five years removed
from uber being a thing at this point, like holy
flying fuck. Yeah, the conventions that the movie leans on. Look,
the the script rights were bought in nineteen ninety eight.

(15:46):
It might have worked in nineteen ninety eight.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
Well, and the guy who wrote it, who wrote the script,
who wrote them? Sorry, who wrote the play? And who
he I'm sorry? And he gets credited for part of
the movie. He'd been writing since nineteen sixty and a
lot of it just looks like garbage, you know, like
some of the movies where it's like not now Darling,

(16:10):
not now Comrade, like two movies they're good, bron right,
why not stay for breakfast? You know, like and then
just a ton of foreign remakes of his stuff. So
I'm like, Okay, well, this guy's been doing this stuff
a while. This one comes what the play was from
when you say ninety five, get the rights get sold
in ninety eight, and then yeah, I guess it takes

(16:31):
all that time to put this stuff together. And it's
just like I've been to many many plays over the years.
Like we have David McGregor on my show The Projection
Booth a lot, and he's a play right. I go
to see his stuff every single time, and I'm like,
this is how you do it. Like I have seen
good theater. This is not good theater. I can't imagine
sitting through this play.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
I can just not. With Chevy Chase, Yeah, I don't
think it plays bad. I feel like it's been poorly
adapted for an American Yeah, and so that's what I'm saying,
like my expectation where that is body and tawdry and
like it's all toned down it and it sounds really
strange coming out of Chevy Chase's mouth, Like.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, I agree with you, Chris. I think there's something there.
I think the americanization of it is probably what's bothering.
You might because that's what's bothering. But I could see
this working as one of those dry kind of body
British plays. It would it would be played out so
differently and acted so differently than what we're getting here.

(17:33):
And the thing that struck me about this and the
timeline sort of I think bears this out a little
bit it being bought in ninety eight, and I'm assuming
by American producers. There's a line in the movie towards
the very end somebody says it's like a scene from
a Tarantino movie. Yes, and I think, and I think

(17:58):
in ninety eight that's what they would have been gunning for.
And it's two thousand and six now, that shoot them
up pulp fiction reservoir dogs thing is done in a
large way, and yet yet there's still shadows of that
throughout this, especially with the finale and the shootout and
oh yeah, the multiple the multiple freeze frame picture towards

(18:23):
the end there, which comes basically right after that line,
and I thought, yeah, that's what they were hoping for
with this with Chevy Chase, though I don't get that,
but whatever.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
I'm sure they really thought that those editing those montages
of the split screens and like here's Chevy and here's
the Romanian guy walking away kind of thing, or then
like here's the cab driver and just all these split screens,
the way they move across the screen. I'm like, you
guys probably really thought that was a great transitional thing,
but for me, it just made it again look very cheap.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
M h.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
Well, they weren't done very well. They weren't executed with
any kind of style or it was like, yeah, this
is a device that hearkens to something more interesting than
what you're actually getting.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Well, and the other issue, ultimately, I think becomes is why.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
Cast Chevy Chase in this Yeah, he's very funny. Plus
he can also like wear those were those fake teeth
that he did for Fletch when he was checking out
the airplane, Like that's how. I don't think he actually
is wearing the fake teeth, but a lot of times
it sounds like he is. He's doing that voice, you.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
Know, speaking of doing a voice, Can we talk about
his Australian accent?

Speaker 1 (19:41):
The best part of the movie, the literal the reason
you would watch this movie is to hear Chevy Chase
do his Australian accent.

Speaker 3 (19:50):
Oh god, my god, that was so so bad, so.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
Bad, I mean, and he had to be doing it
that on purpose, right, I.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
Guess, Mike, No, Mike, you're not immit.

Speaker 4 (20:05):
I'm not convinced.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
No, So like Will Ferrell and Angerman, I'm Ron Burgundy,
like I'm convinced. I would like to believe that that
is the case, but I would not be surprised. Also,
if Chevy Chase just can't do an Australian accent, and
that's that's that he lacks so much self awareness.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
I feel like I just don't get like the frux
of the movie for me is him coming. It's basically
the start of the play, right, him coming in, and
Penelope Anne Miller is put in together this big birthday
surprise and all this stuff, which I kind of forgot
that that was even a thing. Like I remember her
talking to the Chinese caterer at one point mister Wong,

(20:47):
and it's like, okay, well, mister Wong's gonna show up
at some point. But then they're talking about like his
brother and his and sister in law coming over and things.
I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, all right, and I'm like, well,
maybe it's just for them. So when the party actually happens,
I'm surprised. But like so he comes in and he's
just like, hey, you know, this is it. We need
to get some airline tickets and take off to the

(21:09):
rest of the world. And she gets so upset about that,
and it's just like we have dinner guests coming and
she just like suddenly becomes this whole different person, because
I'm like, wait, you were just a therapy complaining about
how he's you know, listens to the same Time Jones
CP every night, how he drinks Miller Lite at six
point thirty, how he you know, has bumblebee tuna every

(21:32):
day for lunch. It's like, okay, well here he is
trying to be spontaneous, and I'm like, okay, unless it's
the reason that she's actually upset is because she ran
and literally ran into Madame v U who's going to
see her artworks and things like that. But like just
her reaction and her motivation just seems so askew, and

(21:52):
then that her solution is to just start drinking like crazy.
I'm like, okay, this is I just have problems the
character motivation sometimes.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
Well, they're in couple's therapy because she's upset with his predictability,
and like you said, he is now for once being spontaneous,
she should be leaping into his arms. But she becomes
the shrill, nagging wife at that point, and that characterization

(22:23):
is so boring to me.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
I don't need to see for.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
The unteenth thousandth time, a nagging haranguing shrill mad at
her idiot husband wife.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Well, even if it came, even if it came with
the whole idea of you know, finally it's my turn
to shine and I've got this woman come over to
look at my artwork. But it doesn't feel like she's
upset about that so much as you're going to ruin
my tenor clans. It's yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, by the way,
another good telling of when this movie was written and stuff.

(23:00):
When he's pointing at the money to her and he says,
we just hit the Donald freaking Trump jackpot. He's fired.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Guys can get away from it, can't get away from it,
no matter how far you run. Is always it. It's
always I can't even go. When he said the line,
I was like, holy shit, this is it's inescapable. Sometimes
is this for the reminder it is?

Speaker 2 (23:26):
It is?

Speaker 4 (23:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (23:27):
God, Well he wasn't in Romania, though he hired.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Those prostitutes in Russia to pee on the bed that
Obama slept in.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
That's true in Romania. I love the idea that this
is in Hope, that this house is in we are
meant to believe that this house is in Hobo, right, Hoboken,
New Jersey.

Speaker 4 (23:49):
Well, it's just like Tony Soprano's house, right.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
What in the city. Yeah, yeah, and the hilarious cast
of characters that they interact with, and including the Cabby
and armand de Santi is in this movie. Yeah, sure
is christ on a cracker. That man must love to
travel international. What are you doing?

Speaker 3 (24:12):
I hated him in this. I after we hated him
in this.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
I mean he's not given anything to do. No, it's
just it.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
Hey, Well, and that was the other you know, talk
about confusing things. He shows up and then we get
the story like we don't. Maybe I missed it, Maybe
I missed him.

Speaker 4 (24:27):
No, you're right, it's a flashback. It's a flashback. Yeah.
We see him on the toilet opening the briefcase three
times before we get Armanda Sante coming in and then
giving us the backstory about what happened between the toilet
open and then now.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
But also even when Chevy Chase shows up at the house,
we haven't seen him discover the money. That was confusing
to me. I'm like, okay, I guess he opened it
at the bar.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, three times, and then he thought he was being
blown by men.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
A that asks that aspect of that dual cop thing
with him, and I'm imagining it's just because he has
to keep paying them off all night. Is supposed to
be the funny part of it. But I'm thinking, why
are we Why do we have two cops? Why is
Armando san pay eating everything and spitting food back into
the container. I'm like, I am, so I don't like

(25:22):
this character.

Speaker 1 (25:25):
Why are they don't want to play with each other's
dix At one point.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
Oh yeah, the gay panic in this movie is amazing. Again,
ninety eight might have hit a little harder, right.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
Right, Yeah, I just maybe a thousand and one. But
then the movie comes out post two thousand and one.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
Oh so you're saying that nine to eleven affected this film.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Maybe this film caused nine to eleven.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh maybe, maybe it's more the character that Asanti is
playing that I hate. But I still didn't like his.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Characterization of it either way.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
I was like, this, this character seems so pointless to me.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
He's no Rico Dread, which I think was the role
that he played right before. Well, I say that not
knowing because I know he's in a lot of stuff.
Because I think as long as the money's green, he's there,
he's I don't know if you guys are familiar with
the ouvra of Frank DeAngelo, a Canadian filmmaker who runs

(26:17):
a restaurant by day and makes movies by night, and
he just makes these horrible like they are like this
is very fitting because he makes these horrible, horrible films,
and he has somehow gotten both Armanda Sante and Robert
Losha to be in several of them. So I think
it's basically he can pay, and so that's why these

(26:39):
guys play.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
I remember when we interviewed Armanda Santi back in twenty fifteen,
Wow or Judge Dread nice? Nice, fun, Yeah, he's great, Yeah,
rip his obs off. So I remember we only got
to interview him because he was doing press for a
movie Leaves of the Truth. I maybe one of those

(27:06):
films you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Funding my name was two thousand and six, Judge Dread
was nineteen ninety five, so he had done at least
like three dozen films in between.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Then he was doing with the Nick Cage thing before
Nick Cage was doing it, before Jeffay he was doing it.
I mean probably Armanda Santi and Jeffey he were doing
it at the same time, and.

Speaker 4 (27:24):
He's one of those guys who just had so much potential. Man,
you know, you go back and you watch like, I
don't know, yeah, you know what he I guess he
never did have potential.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
No, I you know, I like Armanda Santi say what.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
I like him.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
I like him. I think that the things I've seen
him in haven't done him justice, this being one of them.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
What was the one that he did that was the
parody of like a fatal Instinct. That's the one that
he did in ninety three. I think that might have
been his best role.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
I didn't see or Judge Dread.

Speaker 4 (28:02):
Yeah, oh yeah, or Judge.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (28:03):
Rico was so good.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
I see that as more of a Eric Roberts career
than a Cage career.

Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
The Tree featuring Eric Roberts.

Speaker 4 (28:16):
Direct Frank DeAngelo or no, it's.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Ante Novakovic and it stars Frederico Castelluccio, who will be
in uh the Sopranos very quickly and h and another
actor who is just randomly in things, Sean Young, who
also is in the recently released I believe the film
is called Mecca Ape Versus King Kong New World Orders

(28:42):
to that effect.

Speaker 4 (28:43):
You should we watched the trailer last time we talked together.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
Yeah, so she she's in that movie. So this, I mean,
this feels like a very specific kind of movie. The
movie is called Ape ex Mecca, Ape New World Order,
the whole Cogan wrestles those apes.

Speaker 4 (29:01):
Lesson here, dude, Hey, let's not go. Let's not you know,
tell lies to our listeners that it's a very serious.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Film starring Sean Young. Uh yeah, this, I mean this
movie in a lot of ways, Like the people in
this movie that are the supporting cast, like Christopher MacDonald
and Robert Loja are always great in everything. But the
people that are being ostensibly cast is like the main
leads are so unbelievably miscast. Penelo ban Miller and I

(29:31):
mean we I mean it's not like we haven't talked
about him, but like, let's just let's talk about him specifically.
Chevy Chase is really bad in this movie. He is
like criminally unfunny in this film. And I know that
the script doesn't help, but he can't play this kind
of role convincingly. Like it's maybe he could have been this,

(29:52):
I know, you know what. No, I'm gonna stand by.
He could never have played this kind of role convincingly,
especially not at this point in his career. Maybe early
on in the seventies possibly, but this kind of story
being translated to this country with him as the star,
just I don't think what ever worked.

Speaker 4 (30:09):
I'm really curious because the screenwriter that's credited for this,
and not the gentleman that wrote the play, but the
person that did the adaptation, I guess who's usually again
more of an actor than a writer or producer. Henry
Baseil was mostly known for writing for Rodney Dangerfield, Like
he wrote Guide to Golf Style and Etiquette, Meet Wally Sparks,

(30:33):
Rodney Dangerfield, seventy fifth Birthday, Toast, and then a bunch
of stuff I'd Never heard of that all starred Rodney,
My Five Wives, the Fourth Tenor and Back by Midnight.
The next thing that he wrote was Funny Money. And
then the last thing as far as the credits go,
is The Jetti Jada Grace Show, which he did eleven

(30:54):
episodes of, so it was a one season show. Multi
talented eleven year old Jada Grace uploads a homemade music
video of herself onto the Internet, which quickly goes viral.
Her amazing talent comes to the attention of Hollywood music
producer Danny p who brings jedded grace to her and
her bff to Hollywood.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
So there you go.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
Sounds great.

Speaker 4 (31:18):
I'm good you're not looking that one up for the
one season show.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
Nowlie Leslie Grief as well has a barrier grief.

Speaker 4 (31:27):
Maybe also has to say grief just because of Robbie
went through.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
We had a grief. We were caused here. Uh. The
It's interesting because Leslie Grief really, like if you look
at his filmography and the things that he's worked on.
He produced that the offer TV show from a couple
of years ago, the one that was about the Godfather,
like the Making the Godfather, which I think people seemed

(31:54):
to awike best I could tell. It's rather well reviewed
on IMDb. But for the most part, like nothing that
he's worked on moves the needle in any substantive way.
And this may be the cause of that, because if
this is your if this is the first thing you
kind of like, are trying to stake your claim on Wolf.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
I've never seen anything and that guy has done. I
look through his credits and I didn't recognize one single thing.
So I was like, Oh, this will be interesting. This
is a new this is new territory.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
I guess wrote the script for the TV show The Maddening.

Speaker 4 (32:29):
Yes, and then big creator of Texas Walker Texas Ranger
too so and.

Speaker 3 (32:35):
Texas and Texas TV show for come missus Teak and
I have been I am mistaken. I have heard of
Texas Walker, Ranger, Texas Ranger Walker, whatever the fuck is
going Texas Rangers. The creator of Yeah, yeah, coche Cam
Actually I stand corrected, Yeah, wow.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, I mean I don't think the quality of that show.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
I wonder if the Leslie and Chris characters that they
keep talking about are because I thought when I saw
that Leslie had directed this, I was like, oh, well,
that's kind of cool that a woman directed this. And
then I had to look him up and say, oh, nope,
just one of those. And then they keep talking about
these mysterious in laws Leslie and Chris, and I was like, well,
that's kind of cute that it's, you know, two non

(33:17):
gendered names, so we don't necessarily know, you know, which
is where they are, which is which and all this stuff.
And yeah, because that plays a big role in it when,
especially when he starts talking about how Penelope N. Miller
is a post op trans person, So like, oh, okay,
as you do. Yeah, yeah, my my wife is a man.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Wow, yep, that's this movie, folks.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
How about that age difference though?

Speaker 4 (33:45):
Oh I was wondering about that myself.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
Yeah, it's about twenty one years which, you know, fine,
they're both adults. But like we but are we pretending
that he's younger or are we pretending that she's older?
Or is it irrelevant in either he's sexy.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
Oh the end of the movie, Dude, that drawing where
He's gonna fat cock, where they literally make the joke
that chevy Chase is a fat dick. I could not
believe it. I could not got good conscience believe that
they were like, and the movie ends with the picture
of chevy Chase having a fat penis, like and then
Chris McDonald's looks at it and laughs like and like

(34:21):
really laughs at it too. He like gets a good
hearty laugh like ha.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
Like you think that was part of his contract. I
got to put in here somewhere that I've got a
big cock.

Speaker 4 (34:33):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Reading a soundboard from Mark Begler, I think it says
in somewhere I need to have a big cock boom boom.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
I was reading I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not, which
is so you know, it's it's all third person, which
is weird because of the name of the book. But
the author of that was just like people kept saying
that this was going to be Chevy's comeback, this movie,
and then this movie, and then this movie. But you know,
he really stars so well in Funny Money, and they

(35:04):
kept about a film festival in Sarasota where he won
some sort of prize, and it was just like, well,
they loved it in a Sarasota and just kept talking
about how popular it was in Sarasota, and I'm like, Okay,
that's all you got. That's all. You cannot probably quote
from any other reviews of this movie.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
They can, Yeah, I quote from there. How dare you
take away the Sarasota Film Festival from me?

Speaker 4 (35:29):
I know, I don't mean to smirch the five people
of Sarasota, And I could just see the poster of
this five stars Sarasota.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
Inquirer funniest film of the year, says Mabel Marthrop of
The Sarasota Sentinel, film of the year. Yeah right.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
They made sure that was noted on the Wikipedia page.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
And on the Wikipedia page for the play.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah, so I have a question, Jesus correct, I have
a question. Why are they so free with the information
that he has five million dollars in a briefcase? The
second his brother shows up, she tells them bold right,
And I'm like, for one thing, it seems like that
could have been part of the comedy. Then nobody else
knows that he has five million dollars other than he

(36:18):
and his wife exactly, And so the brother and sister
in law are constantly wondering what the hell is going on.
I don't know. It just seemed like everybody that came
in quickly found out that he was loaded with this
strange cash and they're leaving the country and mister big
is after them, and and or mister birfcurse, mister Nasty.

(36:41):
I hate yeah, what names of the characters. Whenever time
Chevy Jay said mister Dascy, I just wanted to punch
him through the screen. I was like, ugh, I hate
I hate those kinds of tropes in these kinds of movies,
because this movie, it's it's nothing that the characters say
in this film is remotely funny, and so in nothing
being funny every time they say it, and the movie gives, like,

(37:03):
you know, that split second pause for you to lot.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
It's like, yeah, it's like, it's not funny movie for
like the Umptean fucking time, it's not funny.

Speaker 4 (37:14):
You just die inside a little bit by the time
there's a bad line. And by the end of this movie,
I felt physically ill.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
By the end of this movie, I had died and
been resurrected at some fucking corpse as the Walking Dead.
This movie is criminally unfunny.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
I kept checking the time stamp and I was like,
oh my god, I've only been watching this for twenty minutes.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
You guys, Oh my god, because you guys had to
watch it in like three or four sittings. I watched
watched it. Oh did you watch Okay? Yeah, yeah, Bike,
that had to watch it in three sittings.

Speaker 4 (37:47):
Yeah. I started it the other night, totally understand that
I had to turn it off. I came back watch
a little bit more yesterday morning, and then I watched
the rest of it yesterday afternoon, and yeah, so it
just haunted me for a while.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
I wish I had started on Monday and watched it
ten minutes at a time until yesterday.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
Remember Event Horizon where they're talking about like the things
that they've seen in Hell, this is what they were.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
My wife came home when I was about halfway through,
and you know, noted, noted Chevy's appearance and how he
was he was getting up there, but not about.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
Chevy's appearance, mark that.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
He's older and this is not prime Chevy. And she's like, oh,
is this around the time that community came out? And
I said, oh, roughly, and then I had to look
and and that was his comeback, I think, maybe unbeknownst
to anybody until it happened, Like, yeah, you should have
just been on some decent sitcom instead of trying all

(38:47):
these stupid movie roles, you know, learn learning, speasonal life fag.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Okay, he had his own the Chevy Chase Show. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
It was a real good talk show too.

Speaker 4 (38:56):
Oh yeah, I remember. I think it's he's a natural
famous for being incredibly good. Yes, yeah, you so.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
After one season because it was so good, no one
else could ever be as good as him. The bar
was set to high.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
Yeah, yeah, I'm surprised we even have late night TV
anymore after that.

Speaker 2 (39:17):
I'm not a question so good.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
They were vaulted forever so no one would ever be
allowed to see them, so they couldn't copy them because
of how timeless the comedy was.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
I have another question for you guys. Why does tubular
bells play when Kevin Susman shows up outside their house?

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Oh the exorcist, que said? Exorcist queue in this movie,
isn't there? I guess because they were like, we're gonna
shoot Kevin Sussman from a low ankle, and it just
happens to look like.

Speaker 3 (39:45):
The exer but he's not a priest.

Speaker 4 (39:48):
Well, I kind of figure armand de Sante is the
old priest and he's the young priest.

Speaker 3 (39:52):
Okay, sure, yeah, I guess that makes that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
But in the British version in the play, they're referred
to as the bent cop, her and the straight copper. Interesting,
that's one bent cop, like you see.

Speaker 3 (40:06):
The crooked cop and the good cop and the straight arrows.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Copy the crooked cop in this movie.

Speaker 3 (40:11):
God, yes, yeah, he's taking hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
But but in the but in the end, like in
the end, he doesn't get any money and he does
his job. So is he like al to not lack
of trying. Eats fried rice out of somebody's fridge though,
and then spits it. Yeah. Can you imagine reading the
script for this movie being like, and I have to
split the fried rice back into the container. Yes, mister Asanti,
I think.

Speaker 4 (40:34):
That was I think that was all him. I think
that was him bringing his method to it.

Speaker 1 (40:38):
Oh, he was getting more into characters like what would
what would he do? I thought that was you thought
that was who?

Speaker 3 (40:45):
I thought that was tona solid to go with Joe
about that.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
So I thought that was fried rice.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
I don't know, got another question for you guys. God,
you like maple Thorpe.

Speaker 4 (40:57):
I do like maple Thorp, I do very much so.
But yes, and I don't know why he's so put
off by his wife's sculptures of naked people, men and women.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
You know whatever, there's long fast.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
He's uptight because he's uptight and predictable.

Speaker 4 (41:15):
Yeah, and you know you get to see Kevin Sussman
lick that statue's ass to the point where he's got
like the ink going down his chair.

Speaker 1 (41:24):
That was this was a British thing. You know what
I mean. When there was he was licking to ask
the statue, I was like, there's some brit that was
writing this. I thought this was just the funniest fucking thing,
like like laughing like a big dumb idiot. Yeah, are

(41:47):
you eating?

Speaker 4 (41:47):
Bum? Have you been served?

Speaker 1 (41:52):
Came Cherie.

Speaker 3 (41:53):
Yeah, exactly, carry on, carry on, hoboken, Oh bulk.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
This this podcast, per minute has been funnier than the movie.
Oh God, Jesus Christ, do you ever feel bad for
Christopher McDonald just always playing second fiddle to people wow,
less talented than him.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
There were a lot of those guys in this, the
head of the couple's therapy, one of the guys in
the couple's therapy. It's like, did they did they farm
out all the Adam Sandler and I can't remember what
Will Ferrell's production company.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Gertie Sanchez, Gary Sanchez, it's.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
All those dudes.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
It's like, oh my god, you know, I keep kept forgetting. Yeah,
this is two thousand and six. Man, These these guys
were working, you know, because I just I was surprised
to see those faces that I see in those dick
joke comedies, modern dick joke comedies, you know, so it
was it was kind of strange.

Speaker 4 (42:53):
Yeah, yeah, I really like Christopher McDonald. I even like
Kevin Sussman. And because I think that he can play
befuddled and upset very very well. He's got that great
face for bicky jokes and yeah, it's it was really
sad to see him in here, and just that he's
so fucking stupid.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Is that it's so d a compliment. You got a
face for jokes.

Speaker 4 (43:18):
Boy, I think he knows it. I think he knows
that he can be goofy very easily.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
He's very funny.

Speaker 3 (43:25):
Yeah, he's the role. That's His role on Big Bang
Theory is exactly what you described.

Speaker 4 (43:31):
Okay. I kept wondering what else he was in because
I've seen them in a few movie things, and I
was like, why is this kind of famous? I kept
thinking that he might have been one of those scientists
on Bones, because they had a whole like rotating cast
of other people that would come onto the show, especially
in the last few years, especially after the one assistant
guy turned out to be a fucking serial killer, and

(43:53):
they're like, Okay, well we need to get more people
in here, so it's possible.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
Yeah, to be fair, Mike also the episode and the
show hasn't even come out yet, but our Sopranos show
that we've been working on. Kevin Sessman was in the
first episode of the second season.

Speaker 4 (44:08):
Oh right, right, Okay, I knew he was very familiar
from Something Resets. Yeah, Oka, Yeah, we just watched that
very recently.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (44:16):
Yeah, he has a.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Very I feel like they're trying to do a almost
like a Bean nineteen ninety eight Mister Bean movie with
the licking of the butt, you know, because you have
mister Bean with the thing on the painting with the ink,
and then they have the same thing here where he's
like rubbing it and he's making it worse. Mister Bean
doesn't lick it though, which I think is kind of
you know, that's where the americanization of all this probably
comes in. I don't know, maybe in the British when

(44:38):
they're licking the ass of the statue probably probably yeah, sure, yeah,
but licking Yeah, I did, it makes sense broadly a
British thing. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
I mean again, going back to the sister in law
looking like prostitute, there's a moment after they are because
we have sister in lives.

Speaker 1 (44:59):
It's just a friend.

Speaker 4 (45:00):
Oh, that's a friend. I thought it was Chris McDonald's wife,
so did I.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
It is, but I don't think Christopher. Christopher McDonald's just
their friend.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Oh really, I thought it was his brother.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
I thought it was. No, it's it's he's Chevy's brother.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
No he's no, he's just his friend. Wow.

Speaker 4 (45:16):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
Yeah. The movie says that their brothers at one point,
but that's but they're not like it. That's when he's
lying about things. They're not. Oh wow, yeah, they're just friends.
They're like our friends, beat Vic and Jean are coming
over for dinner.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
Oh wow, cut off my legs and call me shorty.
I totally missed that.

Speaker 4 (45:34):
Yeah, yeah, especially because he knows him so well. There's
that phone call where he's like, I predictable and he's like, well,
wipe the powdered sugar off of your lip and quit
tapping your pencil, and I was like, well, that's what
a brother would do.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
But okay, yeah, and last at that, and last at
the huge cock in the in the picture that's the
brother does.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
Exactly exactly because he's seeing him naked in those that's
not true. Yeah, so so sorry. So they cut out
because you know this is not a stage play. God
damn it. We go outside of this one set, every.

Speaker 1 (46:05):
Steering serior Belgrade.

Speaker 4 (46:10):
And we're there like getting the two cars, the taxi
and the car separated, and then we get to see
Robert Loja in the I guess he's the guy in
the very beginning in the animated credits sequence where he's
got the hat and the trench coat. And there's a
moment where McDonald is sitting in the car and his

(46:30):
wife comes over to him and she leans over the
window and she's got this white fur coat that I
make up I was talking about, and I'm like, oh,
she's going to get arrested for soliciting. No. No, I
guess I'm the only one that thinks she looks like
a total prostitute.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
No. I mean again, that's the reason that again they
get away with it. It's solely so Robert Loja can
I guess sexually assault her by accident. It's literally because
she's wearing a skirt like I don't know how, and
like it's really off putting, Like that's there's that moment
in this movie is really kind of fucking strange because
that's where I.

Speaker 3 (47:06):
Was though it is that is not he is he
is out cold and she's sick.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
He's he's not out cold. He does smile the going mugging,
So the Leslie Nielsen muggin moment? Good God, Yeah, where where? Yeah?
Leslie Nielsen was still around at this point. Wasn't he

(47:32):
Why wasn't he in this? Just throw him in there.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
You're mentioning the way he Robert Lozio was dressed, and
I was confused as to who that was walking up
to the house, I'm like, who's this, who's this new character?
And then I kind of caught on when they beat
him up, I'm like, oh, it's his boss.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
But at the same time, was he looking at Chevy's
place or was he looking at another place? Because even
though it's one street the I was confused by the
actual locations of things. I was like, Oh, he's going
to so he's looking for the woman who's asked who
is feeling in the fake fruit factory and he's going
to go fund her. But I guess maybe that was

(48:10):
chim Nick's place that they bashed him over the head,
and maybe why they bashed them.

Speaker 3 (48:13):
Yeah, wow, I think I think what it's supposed to
as I'm thinking about it now, I think what it's
supposed to imply is that he's sort of in disguise
because it's a surprise party.

Speaker 4 (48:25):
Oh he's there very early then, right, Because a lot
of times this movie feels like I was shot in
real time, because just time passes so slowly.

Speaker 3 (48:35):
Yeah, a full days, it felt like a full day.
It different morning tonight. I will give them credit. I
did find it funny the not so much of the
mistake and identity, but that he had a way out
with the Susman character coming to say that he was dead,
and I thought, oh, well that's his out, you know, right,

(48:56):
thought can escape, he can escape the country. Everybody's going
to assume he's dead. The cops aren't going to go
after him for either the murder of the of the
actual person that's in in the river or for stealing them.
I mean, they're not going to go after stealing the
money because it's mob money. But this is perfect. And
then how they turned the surprise party when everybody shows

(49:18):
up into a murder mystery. I was like, oh, that's
kind of clever. I thought I liked that part. But yeah,
the whole idea of him being dead. I thought, Oh,
that's that's genius, but you don't. They don't quite land
it because then they throw in the other things still
you know, he's still got the in laws coming or
or at some point it seemed like he and and

(49:40):
Christopher McDonald were acting like they were gay, a gay
couple when they were cooking brothers. Yeah, and then talking
about Hindry. Oh, don't mention his name, So then it
got confused again. I'm like, what is going on here?
I can't follow this.

Speaker 4 (49:54):
Yeah, And like when they were it was Thojjah McDonald
and Chase all under the black and and Susmen comes in,
either Sussman or Armanda Sante.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
No, it's Armana Sante's under the blanket with oh.

Speaker 4 (50:07):
Okay, and it looks like they're just giving hand jobs
to each other, so yeah, okay. I mean, hey, guys,
what you do on a Friday night is your business?
You know. That looked kind of fun to me.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
So I like when they're doing the dwarfon Dworff thing
with Christopher MacDonald and Robert Los's legs, that might be
the funniest part of the whole movie for me, the
little leg crossing, like the weekend of Berney's thing that
they're doing.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
Uh huh.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
I know that you guys looked and researched the movie,
as did I, but it's kind of surprising that none
of us have mentioned the weirdest thing of all with
this movie, the genuinely strangest thing. So we've had a
movie released by the Dow or produced by the Dow
Chemical Company, I'd be Transylvania six five thousand. Funny Money
was also a film of its first of its kind

(50:52):
for the way it was released. It was released in
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, and
Phoenix because the company that produced at FWE Picture Co
worked in tandem with timeshare operators consolidated resorts to release

(51:13):
the film. Wow, it was released with two companies, a
film production company and a timeshare company, and the timeshare
company hosted the premiere in Las Vegas in January of
two thousand and seven.

Speaker 4 (51:27):
Oh so, do you think that the timeshare company had
locations in Barcelona, Greece, Bali and Paris?

Speaker 1 (51:35):
No? I just I just have never heard of a
timeshare company helping produce a movie and then releasing it
or helping release it, or I don't understand what the
fuck it's like the Dow Chemical Company with Transylvania six
five thousand, like, was this like an elaborate money laundering scheme?
Kind of feels like it now? Wow?

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Yeah, Well, especially when you say it cost twenty million
to make in that netted thirty million, I'm like, you
made ten million dollars on those movies. People hate you
to see this.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
I don't I genuinely think that this movie may be
like money laundry. Oh god, don't. I don't know what else,
what other explanation there is, because there's some fishy shit
going on. And look, we know in the film industry
there's always some creative book keeping as it is, because
most movies quote never make any money unquote right, Like
that's the kind of joke we've all heard. I wouldn't

(52:26):
be surprised that this is just like, oh, let's just
you know, spend twenty million to make ten million, Like,
I don't know if that's a thing. Maybe it is.
I'm not creative with my bookkeeping or and or work
for Consolidated Resorts, a timeshare company who released Funny Money.

Speaker 4 (52:43):
Well, and don't forget they released it under the title
National Lampoon's Funny Money It Overseas.

Speaker 1 (52:49):
Yeah, yeah, because because people overseas deserve to be literally
conned out of their money. I and that was the
thing I was thinking about, like, who could have played
opposite If you have to have Chevy Chase in this,
who could have played opposite Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo. What
was she doing? Oh? I know?

Speaker 4 (53:05):
And the age difference would have been a little bit
better too.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
Yeah, I don't understand what what?

Speaker 4 (53:11):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (53:11):
What was going on?

Speaker 4 (53:12):
And then Gerard Dead in the Armana Sante role.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
Oh yeah, yeah, I was. I was thinking of myself, like,
what was the last time we watched a film version
of a play?

Speaker 4 (53:22):
And it was a Dinner for idiots?

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Yeah, dinner Let Dinner Fugitives, which was so much better
than this. God, everything is better than this. Things are
better than this.

Speaker 4 (53:38):
I genuinely laughed. And every single time there was a
mistake when it came to identity or anything, you know,
I was like, oh, Okay, this is actually pretty funny.
But instead it's just like every single time they have
to lie, they just keep getting deeper and deeper into it,
and there's no clever resolution of things like there is
no oh, well, this actually is Leslie, this is Chris,

(54:02):
this is my other brother in law. A bit just
because they just keep digging themselves deeper for no good reason.
Oh my wife's a man, like all of these things.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Like, oh my god, this is terrible, and as Sante
just leaves.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
I guess at the end, when after the big shootout,
which again we don't see, like the movie started to end,
started to wrap up, and I was like wait, wait, wait,
wait wait. I had to back it up and look
to be like, oh, yeah, no, they don't actually show anything.
They just show five freeze frames with gunfire and then
they cut to Oh, the scene here in Hoboken is crazy.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
I think it would have made more sense that nobody
hit anybody in that in the scenario like this, in
a comedy of errors, no one should have landed a shot,
even though they're all across you know, a room.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
I thought that was a joke initially.

Speaker 3 (54:53):
Yeah, that's why I get murdered.

Speaker 1 (54:55):
Straight up. That's what I was.

Speaker 3 (54:58):
At the end. You know, this massive shootout and then
you see everybody, you see the Serbs or Russians or
whoever in the cop cars. You see Kevin Sussman sitting
on the curb all all shaky, and you know, Asante's
just just walking off because he's like, I wasn't here,
you know, I wasn't trying to steal two hundred thousand
dollars from these guys. They shouldn't have hit it, and

(55:20):
nobody should have gotten hit. They're all incompetent.

Speaker 4 (55:23):
Oh yeah, should have been something that Joe dropped on
somebody's head instead, you know, or like, you know, we
do get to see one guy get knocked over by
a bunch of wax apples. I'm like, okay, like give
me something else, so like maybe make the statues part
of this whole thing, you know, and like that comes
to nothing. Only we've got the whole thing with Madame

(55:48):
c mada Ve's briefcase and that she finds the wax
banana in there. And that was the only time I
actually laughed in this movies when she looks at it
and she gets a little smile on her face, like
oh I can work with this, And I was like, okay,
see that's funny. That's actually funny. But the rest of
this stuff, it's like okay, right.

Speaker 3 (56:08):
Right, well, and then she also ends up with the cabby,
so that is I guess tying in a bow.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
She ends up with blows shut.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
That's rights, right, well, but yeah in the in the
cab for a second, right, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
Say what they say about redheads? Like what the fuck? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (56:26):
Whoa is it that her? Her pussy hair is red?
I mean, like, what do they say about redheads?

Speaker 3 (56:35):
The carpet matches the curtains pussy hair?

Speaker 1 (56:39):
This is my cat, pushy? Hey, why hey, hey, what
am I supposed to say?

Speaker 3 (56:47):
You know?

Speaker 4 (56:48):
Yeah, the carpet matches the drapes. Yes, I know.

Speaker 3 (56:51):
Okay, So did you guys read the trivia, the IMDb
trivia for this movie.

Speaker 4 (56:57):
It's not that it was very similar to an other movie.
I'm trying to remember what it was, No Country.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
For Old Men.

Speaker 3 (57:03):
Well, it says this film is loosely based on the
remaining comedy Nea Maren MILLARDA. I'm like, okay, well but
it was based on a play, So what are you
talking about? But the spoilers section was what got me.

Speaker 4 (57:13):
Oh well, first, real quick, that movie that you just mentioned,
that is a movie that we're going to watch, Chris,
because Inspector Colombo is a character in it. Wow. Interesting
because I went to download it and I was like,
oh wait, no, I already have this movie.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Jesus wept as they would say, yes, So what.

Speaker 4 (57:34):
Was under the spoiler? So that I don't think.

Speaker 3 (57:37):
Spoilers I'm quoting exactly. This movie does, in fact blow.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
Somebody had put that in there. And if you listened
to this episode of this show because you put that
comment on their you fucking son of a bitch. You
did it?

Speaker 2 (57:56):
Ye, your rule.

Speaker 3 (57:59):
Whoever you are, don't see if there's a username, there
is not a user name.

Speaker 4 (58:03):
Oh man, that applaud I applaud you.

Speaker 3 (58:08):
Yeah, anonymous stake unbowing sir or madam?

Speaker 4 (58:12):
Oh wow?

Speaker 1 (58:13):
I mean, hey, you know what, at the end of
the day, that person may have seen this film under
the title National Lampoon's Funny Money, and that may be
why they feel so strongly.

Speaker 4 (58:24):
I feel strongly, and I saw it just under the
regular title.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
I know, but like, but let's but let's just let's
just blow this up a little bit, right, National Lampoon's
Funny Money. If you see this movie with the National
Lampoons qualifier in front of it, it's even worse.

Speaker 4 (58:41):
No, they've done so many horrible movies.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
I mean, I've done a lot of stuff.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
This is this is guys, Come on, it does.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
Mail the National Lampoon's Van Wilder seam Oscar words.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
I like Van TV, you know all their DTV stuff
direct to video, still better than it is to say so.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
But because those things were made as National Lampoons things,
this is just like can you imagine just slapping National
lampoons on this? Like? What about this is national Chevy Chase,
I don't know the Internet.

Speaker 5 (59:11):
Because Chevy was a part of Lampoon for because of
the vacation movies, because Beverly di'angelo would have been a
much more reasonable choice for his wife in this movie.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
And then you can because of the vacation.

Speaker 3 (59:23):
But you can't just call things things with copyright log
You can't just a You clearly can't. So I can
make a movie and in Russia I can sell it
as Martin scorsesees, sure do you want to sures no
stories talking about let's do it weirding way media presents
Martin Scorsese's friends no stories.

Speaker 4 (59:46):
I mean, I like fucking a Penelope and Miller quite
a bit. I remember she was you know she was
so cute and so funny in some of her earlier things,
like didn't she but she was the gun in Betty
Loo's hand bag, right was Betty Lou And a lot
of other good movies that she was in, But then
she was in so many bad things and she was

(01:00:08):
she just played Nancy wrote, goat Reagan in that Reagan movie.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
Oh yeah, she's in Kindergarten Cop.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
She's in Carlos Way.

Speaker 4 (01:00:21):
Oh god, she was amazing in carldos w.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
She's in the Shadow. She plays she. I was trying
to remember what she was from that we had seen together, Mike.
Remember when we did for like the two hundredth episode
we did the Relic?

Speaker 4 (01:00:33):
Oh god, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
She plays doctor Margo Green in The Relic, a four
fac simile of a great character. Yeah. God, yar Penelope
Anna when Awakenings came a Spider, which we mentioned earlier
a couple of podcasts ago. She's has a weird career.
I always what's the other actress the one that was

(01:00:57):
in Hollow Man. I sometimes get them confused.

Speaker 4 (01:01:00):
Oh Elizabeth Elizabeth Shoe. Yeah yeah, yeah, Elizabeth Shoe. I
she's very active in my world, like I I you know,
I liked her on CSI quite a bit, and then
she was amazing in The Boys.

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
Oh yeah, that's right.

Speaker 4 (01:01:17):
Yeah, and she comes back every once in a while,
even though she passed away in the first season.

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
I think spoilers but interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
She's a hollow man criminally underrated? Is it? Is it?

Speaker 4 (01:01:28):
Really?

Speaker 1 (01:01:31):
I mean, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
Should we should we watch that? When we have to
watch memoirs of an Invisible Man?

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
Oh? I like you, where are your heads at? Should
we also watch a film that you may not even
know existed? Hollow Man two? Oh my god, speaking of
ev Baby. Oh yeah, and that fucking movie has and
I'm not even kidding Christian Slater in it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:54):
Wow? Is he the titular hollow man?

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
There are two hollow men in that movie? Oh wow,
it's him and not I forget who the other one is.
It's one of those like so it's t oo, t
w O and t O all at the same time.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
Holom colo Man two.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
It's Christian Slater and everyone's favorite TV star Peter Fastinelli
is the other lead of the movie. Of all the people, right,
I'm not even sure what Peter Fastenelli. I guess he
was in Nurse Jackie is what I but yeah, hollow
Man too. Yeah, I guess so, yeah, Chevy Chase, Invisible Man,

(01:02:37):
hollow Man. Sure, why not there's a hollow gorilla and
hollow Man.

Speaker 4 (01:02:41):
Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
Yeah, boy, which controversy there was around that stupid fucking movie.
Wasn't that the whole thing where Sony got in trouble
for possibly like paying people off, like for fake reviews.
Wasn't that, hollow Man? I'm pretty sure it was that.

Speaker 4 (01:02:56):
Yeah, it makes sense.

Speaker 3 (01:02:57):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Know, to bring in full circle, maybe that's the same
till that the Sarasota Film Festival people were being paid out.
They loved this film that I think you didn't want
to indict the people, the good people of Sarasota. But
to be fair, Mike, the good people of Sarasota did
approve of this film, and well, film's not great.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
So is the film?

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
Does the film festival take place at an old folks home?

Speaker 4 (01:03:24):
Oh, that's what I'm wondering.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
It takes place at the Consolidated Resource Resorts home base,
which is the weird fucking time share that really, Yeah,
this movie feels like a timeshare of a movie, Like
there's a better version of this movie out there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
God cheat.

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
Yeah, I am never sharing my time with this film again.

Speaker 1 (01:03:44):
So oh he's.

Speaker 3 (01:03:47):
Yeah, hey, it's the brain damage.

Speaker 4 (01:03:52):
Yeah. I looked them out Buddy Money and Sarasota and
trying to find out, like, was somebody from the cast there,
like did they send Oh, here we go Sarasota, Sarasota,
Harold Tribune. I like your name a little bit better
than yes. Yes, And here's pictures of Penelope and Miller,

(01:04:14):
Christopher McDonald. Chevy Chase is there, Chase is up on
stage with McDonald. Oh yeah, here's all kinds of big
group shots here. Funny Money is a comedy film directed
by Leslie Grief and produced by Herb Nana's opened at
the eighth annual Sarasota Film Festival, which continued through April

(01:04:35):
nineteen thousand and six. Director what director Christopher McDonald left
Leslie Grief center. Okay, so they just screwed up their
own caption and Penelope and Miller right arrived for the
screening of the movie Friday night. So yeah, there's Leslie,
there's okay, signing some autographs. Oh my god, here's a
picture of fucking Gene Simmons at the festival.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Wow. Yeah, because Leslie Green. If you go and look
at Leslie Green fromography he's worked with Kiss, that's including
On the Kiss, like the Kiss Final Tour thing that
they just did. And also I'd like to point out
I think we should cover at some point a film
that's a real thing involving Leslie Grief The Maddening from

(01:05:19):
nineteen ninety five, in the Southern Gothic horror story deranged
parents Roy and Georgina Scudder will stop at nothing to
protect his daughter's secret and hold young mother Cassidy Osborne
and her daughter Samantha hostage at their isolated property, starring
Bert fucking Reynolds.

Speaker 4 (01:05:36):
Oh yeah, what, Oh, here's a nice written by staff writer.
I'm glad that this is written by staff writer because
it says it's all written in the first person, which
makes no fucking sense, and it's all about how It
may have taken a while, but I think I finally
appreciate the Sarasota Film Festival. Over the last eight years,

(01:05:57):
I've had a hand in covering the festival, which begins
mall and gradually grew larger. This year, it had an
oppressive array of Films and Stars that's jumped down to
this year. I saw eleven films more than ever before,
from the ridiculous farce of the opening night film Funny
Money to the delightful closing night film A Prairie Home Companion,

(01:06:18):
which could easily be a hit for director Robert Oltman.

Speaker 3 (01:06:22):
Wow Whoopston, Yes, whoops?

Speaker 1 (01:06:26):
Oh wow Man baton zero for zero for those two.

Speaker 4 (01:06:31):
Man, Yeah, they showed some really good stuff here the
amateurs with Jeff Bridges our very own what else did
this person see? Wrestling with angels, playwright Tony Kushner wordplay,
and then another mention of Prairie Home Companion. Wow, Yeah,
they had a real good time at this festival. Staff writer?

Speaker 3 (01:06:50):
Did is Is somebody involved with the movie a Sarasota
native or something? I wonder can we delve into that?

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Or there's a conspiracy surrounding Yeah, I'm trying to figure
this out. Man, I'm Sarah. This is sirial.

Speaker 3 (01:07:08):
Why were they so smitten with this?

Speaker 1 (01:07:10):
Maybe maybe that's the headquarter of Consolidated Resorts, the the
the company who co released the film, who also happens
to time staff writer.

Speaker 3 (01:07:20):
There they're passing the over to staff writer ye.

Speaker 2 (01:07:24):
Yeah, that staff writer gets a lot of work.

Speaker 3 (01:07:26):
I've seen that.

Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
Then and multiple newspapers.

Speaker 4 (01:07:30):
Yeah, you know, once once they started doing the joint
operating agreement, staff writer was was everywhere. Oh yeah, my god, there's.

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
A lot going on with funny money. And what's weird
is none of it lives up to the title.

Speaker 4 (01:07:45):
Yeah. I think David David Manning really liked this one.
That is your your fake Sony Columbius is that person the.

Speaker 1 (01:07:54):
Guy who wrote the reviews for hollow Man.

Speaker 4 (01:07:56):
Yeah, let's see, uh uh the Animal Rob Schneider another winner.

Speaker 1 (01:08:02):
That's right, that's right. Yeah. I was about to say
it wasn't just hollow Man. It was like a couple
of things that came out in like ninety nine.

Speaker 4 (01:08:08):
Oh yeah, a Night's Tale.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
He was very hot on raised film best film of
the Year, he ledgers and performance will shock you.

Speaker 4 (01:08:16):
Oh so good. Yeah, I'm gonna have to go over
to the Museum of Hoaxes to see more of his Uh.
One hell of a scary ride, David Manning, Ridgefield Press,
hollow Man. There you go, a sexy scary thrill ride
the Forsaken.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
You're telling me that there aren't by just law of
averages enough film writers in this country that one of
them would be high on your movie enough to give
you a fucking soft ball of a quote to you.

Speaker 4 (01:08:45):
That's when they started using like fucking ain't it cool
news quotations, and it'd be like five stars, ain't it
cool news?

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
It just reporter says, well, and sorry.

Speaker 4 (01:08:56):
To get gross again, but it's just like eating pussy.
Harris Knowles on Laid two. What the infamous Blade two review?

Speaker 3 (01:09:07):
Oh my gott to look into the head.

Speaker 4 (01:09:09):
If you haven't read that, you, Oh, your eyes may
not be ready for it. You might have to douse
with some bleach after that.

Speaker 1 (01:09:16):
Well, it is my favorite drink, so if I will
started playing it topically, maybe it'll do me some good.

Speaker 4 (01:09:21):
He somehow takes Laid two and makes it about He
literally uses kind of lingis as his metaphor. Oh, oh yeah,
it's it's incredible.

Speaker 1 (01:09:33):
He's I mean, he's such a cool guy. Oh he
happened to him. Where's he at right now?

Speaker 4 (01:09:40):
Oh Austin, Yeah, with the rest of them, seat five
F at the Alamo Draft House.

Speaker 1 (01:09:47):
Yeah, but that's not anymore. He's not only one of
those scooter rounds.

Speaker 4 (01:09:54):
Oh yeah, he definitely is. Yeah, he's been doing that
for a while. Yeah, don't watch it, my my.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
Ladies and gentlemen. That's a quote for the fucking box.

Speaker 4 (01:10:04):
Don't watch it, honestly, it just it. I can't really.
I've already said the good things about this movie that
I could say, and that's it. I mean a couple
things here and there, that's about it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:16):
Jimmy cha still has a cleft in his chin. He does,
he does. Yeah, I have nothing else to say any
more than either of you do. I take full responsibility
for us watching this movie. And uh yeah, I hoist
myself on my own petard as it were.

Speaker 4 (01:10:30):
Well, But I so this one was new to me.
I had never heard of it before in my entire life.
For some reason, when I was telling people that I
was watching it, I kept missing it up with the
last laugh, that one with Richard Dreyfuss. But uh, another
one I've never seen before, and I hear is as
bad is Caddyshack too. How are we gonna do this?

(01:10:53):
How are we gonna do I was.

Speaker 1 (01:10:55):
To say, we're like we've we've we've crossed the fucking
rubicon now and we're is like powering forward and to
hell boys like Caddyshack too is I've seen it one
time and I don't remember anything other than it has
Randy Quaid in it and Chevy Chase is there for
like a cup of coffee? If like Chevy, we need

(01:11:15):
you for one day? All right? How much I see?

Speaker 3 (01:11:19):
I see some positive notes drifting towards us in the future,
so it's not gonna be all bad.

Speaker 1 (01:11:24):
Hell at arcish movie, where's Father Malone at? He can't
join us for that one because it's conflict of interest.

Speaker 4 (01:11:30):
Well, I don't remember hating Fletch Lives.

Speaker 1 (01:11:33):
I like Fletch Lives a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:11:35):
Frankly, I've never seen Christmas Vacation, so we do have that.
Oh sorry, sorry, National Lampoons Christmas film.

Speaker 1 (01:11:42):
Wouldn't want anyone to confuse it for anything. You love this?

Speaker 4 (01:11:44):
Yes, yes, I love that one. Is it National Lampoon's
Caddyshack too? No?

Speaker 1 (01:11:49):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:11:50):
Is it National Lampoons Fletch Lives.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
It's it's National Lampoons nothing but trouble.

Speaker 4 (01:11:55):
Oh, there you go. Oh, and that's where Father Malone
is supposed to be. That is we have a guest.

Speaker 1 (01:11:59):
Yes, that's right, he'll be joining us in the near
future to talk about a movie I've covered once, which
is nothing but Trouble. But it's it's a Dan Akroyd joint,
which means it's probably like a thousand page script. This
is two hundred pages of character motivation. Dan nobody fucking
cares well.

Speaker 4 (01:12:15):
And he's in shack too as well, right he sure is.

Speaker 1 (01:12:18):
I believe christ my god boy. So until the next
time when you hear the three of us talking about
Caddyshack too. Where can you find you and the things
that you work on?

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
Mike White?

Speaker 4 (01:12:29):
You can find everything that I work on overapp weirdinglymedia
dot com except for one thing, which is ranking on Bond,
which you can find on my patreon at patreon dot
com slash Projection booth, or you can find it on
Chris's patreon, which is patreon dot com slash Culturecast. That's
culture Cast with a K, despite what any sort of

(01:12:51):
audio transcription service might have you believe. How about you,
mister Bigley.

Speaker 3 (01:12:56):
You can find my shows Wake Up Pippy and Cambridge
One Mashawn also over on Weirdingwaymedia dot com. And I
do not have a Patreon, so that's all that's all
you need to go to how about.

Speaker 1 (01:13:08):
You, CHRISTASHU can find all the things that I work
on over at Weirdingwaymedia dot com. Like Mike mentioned, that
is the singular repository for ninety nine percent of the
things that I work on. The other thing is branking
on bond, which Mike mentioned you can find over at
my Patreon ranking on patreon dot com slash culturecast. As

(01:13:28):
for this show, like rate and review wherever you get it,
hopefully on iTunes. If you don't get it on iTunes,
going over at iTunes and like it on iTunes. We
will be back, like we've already mentioned, next month to
talk about Caddyshack Too, which features Chevy Chase, so little
time that will probably be barely talking. But hey, we're
doing our Jo County. You're right, We're going to be
doing our diligence, folks. That's what you can expect from

(01:13:51):
us at Weirdingway Media. So we'll see on the next episode.