Other People’s Money

Based on a play by Jerry Sterner, Other People’s Money follows corporate raider Lawrence Garfield (Danny DeVito) as he threatens a hostile takeover of a successful yet failing business run by Gregory Peck’s Andrew Jorgenson – with Lawrence eventually receiving opposition in the form of a crafty lawyer named Kate Sullivan (Penelope Ann Miller). Filmmaker Norman Jewison admittedly does an effective job of initially luring the viewer into the unapologetically stagy proceedings, as Other People’s Money boasts an entertaining and briskly-paced opening stretch that’s heightened considerably by DeVito’s commanding and charming performance – with the actor certainly receiving plenty of more-than-capable support from a fairly stacked supporting cast. It does become increasingly clear, though, that there’s little here designed to wholeheartedly sustain one’s ongoing interest, as scripter Alvin Sargent bogs the thin narrative down with less-than-fascinating financial minutia and a continuing emphasis on the flirtatious relationship between DeVito and Miller’s respective characters – with the latter proving especially disastrous given the actors’ complete and total lack of chemistry together. And although the picture, at least, concludes with a stirring climax featuring impassioned speeches from both Andrew and Lawrence, Other People’s Money predominantly comes off as an ill-advised adaptation that just doesn’t have enough material or substance to sustain a feature-length running time.

** out of ****