FREE MONEY

US, 1998, 91 minutes, Colour.
Marlon Brando, Donald Sutherland, Charles Sheen, Thomas Hayden Church, Mira Sorvino, Remi Girard, Martin Sheen.
Directed by Yves Simoneau.

Free Money is a little heard of comedy, eccentric and often over the top.

Marlon Brando made the film at the age of 73 towards the end of his career. He plays a buffoon warden of a prison, with two adoring twin daughters, ruling the roost in his own way with the comments of religiosity. He also has yellow ginger hair and moustache. And he also has his considerable bulk. Brando allows himself a great deal of slapstick.

His two sons-in-law are played by Charlie Sheen (as Charles Sheen), and Thomas Haden Church. They are not so bright and under the thumb of the warden. An opportunity comes to rob a train, with used notes coming from Canada to the United States. The robbery is farcical even as it is successful. But there are consequences and Charlie Sheen finds himself in prison after spending the money in an obvious way. There is a plan for an escape, knocking out the warden, getting away in his truck. It almost works but there is a further police chase.

Also in the cast is Donald Sutherland as a local corrupt judge, a minor role in the film. His FBI agent daughter is played by Mira Sorvino, who plays her part straight and it is all the better for it, even if she is bashed on the head by Marlon Brando.

A final joke with Martin Sheen as the new warden and Brando a prisoner – memories of their roles in Apocalypse Now.

The film was directed by Yves Simoneau, director of a range of thrillers and dramas.

1. A generally unknown film? Yet, the star cast? Something of a cult comedy?

2. A last role for Marlon Brando? His comic style? At the end of his career?

3. The title? The robbery of the money on the train? The consequences?

4. The northern United States? The town? A certain isolation? The centre of the town, shops and garages? The prison? The court? The musical score?

5. The Swede, his presence, size, the colour of his hair and moustache? His dominance at home, his two daughters? Their news about pregnancy? His thunderous reaction? Encounter with the men, his reluctant presence at the wedding? His love for his daughters, their devotion to him, their returning home with their husbands? His laying down the law, one cooking and cleaning, the other repairs? His religiosity, no swearing, sins of fornication? His regulations in the house about sexual meeting? Punishment?

6. His role as the warden, in the jail, his underlings, the escapee, phoning the judge, shooting the criminal? The connivance of the judge? Their later huddle for conspiring?

7. His love of the truck, its being stolen, his reaction?

8. Bud and Larry, the relationship with the girls, the girls telling them they were pregnant, the weddings? The two not knowing each other, in the same house? The joke during the honeymoon night? Larry imitating the Swede’s voice? Useful later for the escape?

9. The bar, the guard on the train, the story of the money coming from Canada? The plan?

10. The plan in action, the vehicles, stuck in the mud, Larry in the car on the rails, the guards not noticing, playing cards, the crash, the explosion? Their not wanting to take the blame? The lame answers? The interrogation by the FBI agent? Bud and Larry, getting the money, the escape, getting back home? The rescue of the truck?

11. Larry, tentative, not so bright, criticising Bud for the plan going awry? Bud spending the money, the Swede seeing him? Contact with the judge? The arrest? Larry free?

12. The FBI agent, daughter of the judge, estrangement? Questioning of the Swede, his vague answers? Her coming to the court, to the prison to see Bud, trying to persuade him to incriminate the Swede? His refusal? His sentence? A speech in the court? Her father ousting her?

13. The judge, his role in the town, authority, collaboration with the Swede? Alienation from his daughter, meeting at the social? His condemnation of her in the court?

14. The daughters, wanting to get married, stories of the pregnancy, one of them not pregnant? Their flirting with other boys in the town? The Swede getting the quick divorce for Larry?

15. The brutality in prison, the giant fighting Bud, his losing his eye, Larry and the plan, knocking out the Swede, the announcements, in the truck, the pursuit by the police, the slapstick of the pursuit? The FBI agent at the end? The Swede putting them in the garbage truck? The Swede bashing the agent? Her letting Bud and Larry go?

16. The Swede in prison, the joke with Martin Sheen and Brando as the next warden?

17. The Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid quotes, Bud and Larry at the end – and the new set of twins and their father?