Bad Money does local films justice

By Christin Scholten

Low budget, bad editing, and grainy pictures are thoughts we usually associate with local movies. Bad Money will hopefully disprove that notion.

The plot revolves around the lives of five different characters, and the circumstances that cause them to make compromising decisions. George, Silvia, Jan, Murray and Stick each have turmoil in their lives, and Bad Money reveals how far each of them willing to go in order to make some active change in their lives.

George Baines (Graham Greene) is a timid and shy pushover. His desperate attempt to become more business savvy by hardening his heart is a slow, if not halted, process until one life altering day. Going into work he expects to receive a much deserved promotion, however, he gets laid off instead. Under economic pressure from all sides, including his wife’s obsessive need to renovate the house, George is desperate to improve his financial situation. What else is there to do except turn to larceny?

Silvia Baines (Alisen Down), George’s young daughter, could easily be seen sporting any black outfit while sipping a cappuccino in a poetry bar. Beyond her years in serious thinking, but lacking responsibility, she is forced to get a part-time job that turns her fun laidback lifestyle upside-down. Along with her father, her Martha Stewart-clone-mother Eileen, and her younger twin-brothers Billy and Bobby, she completes a comically diverse family.

While Silvia ventures into the working world, Jan Wells finally decides to take a chance at realizing her dreams. After years of working for others, she decides to open her own café. However, the idea of a whole foods café wasn’t as popular as she might have hoped. With her business slowing to a crawl, and stress building at a steady pace, her only choice is to change. Is she willing to sacrifice her morals in order to turn a dollar?

Ethical decisions like this wreak havoc on the minds of most of the characters with the exception of Murray and Stick. Partners in crime, they are armed with crazy haircuts and a lack of ambition. After unsuccessful attempts at holding down any type of steady job, they decide to move to the land of opportunities–Vancouver! This move takes schedule coordination and; most of all, money. Lacking the ability to plan and without any marketable job skills, whether or not they will succeed in reaching their goal remains highly questionable.

When these characters paths cross, hilarity ensues. Director John Hazlett, who also helped write and produce, brings forth a film that combines comedy, thought provoking social messages, and picture quality, without the need of a mainstream story line.

Bad Money opens at the Plaza on Fri., Oct. 29.