Starring: Linda Hunt, Brendan Frasier, Elisabeth Shue, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd, Alan North,
David Rasche, Gladys Knight, Matt Frewer, Spalding Gray
Director: Keva Rosenfeld
Producer: Karen Murphy
Screenplay: Leslie and Endre Bohem
Music: David Robbins
Released by Triton Pictures
With a script that has literally been in development for fifty-eight years, Twenty Bucks follows the progress of a single twenty dollar bill as it's passed from hand-to-hand. During the course of the ninety minute journey, it gets run over by a car, stuffed in a stripper's g-string, bloodied in a robbery, and forced into a fish's mouth. Each of these incidents has its own story and a group of characters to go along with it.
One thing that sets this movie aside from the few other films that have followed the progress of an item from person-to-person is that, while Twenty Bucks strings together a series of short stories, few are independent of one another. With characters crossing over and re- appearing (sometimes in the most unexpected of places), this becomes more complex than a traditional anthology.
Coincidence plays a strong role in Twenty Bucks, much as it did in Martin Scorsese's After Hours. In fact, in some of the bizarre ways that various stories intertwine, there is a feeling of that earlier film here. When used as a plot element in a drama, coincidence can shake credibility, but when forming the foundation of a less-serious tale, it can be a marvelous asset.
In assembling and working with this impressive ensemble cast, first time feature director Keva Rosenfeld has accomplished a task worthy of Robert Altman. In fact, keen viewers will spot an Altman-like influence. To have one's debut compared favorably to the works of two of America's most influential and talented directors (Altman and Scorsese) is no mean feat, but Rosenfeld has opened eyes with this offbeat motion picture.
Don't take Twenty Bucks too seriously. Most of the script is concentrates on wry, witty character interaction. A bachelor party, complete with stripper, shows the discomfort that many feel during this somewhat-absurd rite of passage. A crime spree displays the seductive influence of getting away with something. A young woman discovers that she has more in common with her estranged father than she could ever imagine. And a bag lady learns that fate has a vicious sense of humor.
Following a twenty dollar bill, you're never quite sure what you're going to get, or what different side of a familiar character you're about to be exposed to, and that's part of the movie's charm. However, as the many studios that turned down Twenty Bucks pointed out, the audience for this film is likely to be highly specialized.
The script went through a mammoth eighteen re-writes, the first draft (of which very little remains) having been penned in 1935 by Endre Bohem, the father of Leslie Bohem, who was eventually responsible for the final version. Twenty Bucks impressed a lot of people in Hollywood, and that's the reason that it has such a high-profile cast despite a budget under $6 million.
Of all the actors involved in the project, only Elisabeth Shue isn't consistently up to the challenges of her character. There are a couple of scenes where her performance seems forced. Perhaps the most impressive job is turned in by Steve Buscemi as a small-time con artist turned convenience store robber. Some of his dialogue is positively Tarantino-like. Christopher Lloyd, who plays his gentlemanly partner-in-crime, is given a rare opportunity to play a role straight. Spalding Gray, that pinnacle of "secular humanism", is an interesting choice to portray a priest.
Twenty Bucks is worth seeing if only for its different storytelling approach. Those viewers with an eye for detail will appreciate some of the clever little things that this film does. If it reaches your town, Twenty Bucks is certainly worth the seven you'll have to pay to get in.
© 1993, 1996 James Berardinelli