Where the Money Is Analysis

Where the Money Is Analysis

Where the Money Is (2000) is a dramatic and suspenseful, yet comedic film. Henry, played by Paul Newman, is a convict who has been incarcerated for years for bank robbery and now has gotten in to his older years. In attempt to try to escape, Henry pretends to be paralyzed from a stroke, which then lands him in a retirement home for a temporary time period due to overcrowding in the prison. No one is aware of Henry’s act until a nurse, Carol, played by Linda Fiorentino, suspects him. Carol is interested in Henry’s bank robber past and wants to learn more. She then makes it her plan to pull Henry of the blank state he was pretending to be in and she succeeded by rolling his wheelchair in to a lake after several other attempts. Henry and Carol become good friends and later partners in crime. Carol comes up with a master plan to have Henry help her rob a bank, and they proceed with that plan along with the help of Carol’s husband, Wayne. The three of them prosper in robbing an armored money transport truck. But before the money can be split up, the correctional facility shows up to take Henry back, which leads Carol to make a shocking decision against Wayne’s will, of course. Carol would not let Henry go back. She kept saying, “We have to do something.” In the end, Carol and Henry succeed. That says to me that the bad guy doesn’t always get caught, which could be one of the themes of the film. Someone could also look at the film and say it’s about finding happiness and spontaneity in a boring life, referring to Carol. One could also argue this film has a negative ideology embracing prosperous criminal activity, or could acknowledge the ideology of gender relationships and relationships with older adults.

The film’s costumes and set designs lead me to believe that the film took place in around the late nineties. Carol had on her nurse’s uniform a lot or just comfortable clothes. Henry wore pajamas a lot since he was supposed to be...