For Love or Money

Featuring an expectedly charming performance from Michael J. Fox, For Love or Money follows slick concierge Doug Ireland (Fox) as he attempts to balance his work-related responsibilities with a potentially lucrative deal involving a shady businessman – with complications ensuing as Doug discovers that said businessman is actually dating his longtime crush (Gabrielle Anwar’s Andy Hart). There’s little doubt that For Love or Money fares best in its opening half hour, as filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld, working from a script by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner, does an effective job of establishing the slick day-to-day exploits of the central character – with Fox’s effortlessly magnetic work initially compensating for the movie’s lack of momentum and wafer-thin storyline. It’s only as the film progresses into its increasingly prosaic midsection that one’s interest begins to wane, with the pervasively uneventful atmosphere compounded by a distinct (and disappointing) absence of stand-out sequences. (Sonnenfeld’s efforts at injecting the proceedings with bursts of energy – eg a frantic sequence set at a Hamptons beach house – generally fall flat and ultimately perpetuate the movie’s lackluster feel.) The most obvious consequence of the film’s unevenness is the romance between Fox and Anwar’s respective characters, as the viewer is never quite able to work up any real enthusiasm for their inevitable coupling – which ensures that the uplifting ending isn’t able to pack the kind of feel-good punch that one might have anticipated. The end result is a watchable yet disappointing effort from an otherwise reliable filmmaker, though the movie admittedly deserves a mild recommendation based solely on Fox’s impressively commanding performance.

**1/2 out of ****