Wick's Review

Summary - Good 3.0

A smalltime con artist reconnects with his reluctant son as they scam their way cross-country in $5 a Day. The whole thing has an understated lunacy to it that evokes a bygone era.
Indeed, it feels like an old-time movie set in the Rap Era.

$5 a Day has three main assets: classic Christopher Walken, an age-defying Sharon Stone performance, and a script that picks up after a slow beginning but ends with a heartfelt belly laugh.

Walken plays a man who focuses on the price of everything, and yet he’s not a cynic. Instead he’s a bon vivant, a dancer with great hair. Fans of the great eccentric will be utterly charmed.

Stone makes a grand entrance 50 minutes in, rocking a bikini with a cigarette pack stuck in the waistband. Speaking of grand, you can tell she’s having a grand time, showing off her still considerable physical charms and exuding joie-de-vivre as a bon vivant herself. More please.

The script is far from flawless, but it delivers lots of fun by showing a succession of petty scams. More heartily, it explores the complicated dynamic between a flawed father and his conflicted son, and between them and a couple of significant characters from their past. Wry and rather heartwarming, it even delivers a couple LOLs. That’s worth $5 and 90 minutes. Got Netflix? Forget the fiver. Walken would approve.

Acting - Very Good 3.5

Christopher Walken is always worth watching, Alessandro Nivola less so. Yet Nivola doesn’t try to overshadow his screen-father, who is a delight as the movie’s centerpiece. The filmmakers are wise to give Walken a dancing scene, one of his lesser known talents.

Sharon Stone is super-sexy as a loose woman who adores father and son. Fifty when the movie was made, she proves that her charisma and sex appeal are still strong. Unfortunately she’s not on screen enough.

The generally strong supporting players.

• Dean Cain as a hotshot salesman who takes offense to Walken charming his wife.
• Peter Coyote as a big-time car dealer with whom the father and son characters have issues.
• Amanda Peet as a charming girlfriend.

Film - Good 3.0

The film doesn’t try to be more than lighthearted and lightly heartwarming, and it succeeds. An example of the former are the many petty scams, such as conning room service breakfast from a Howard Johnson the scammer’s not even staying at. An example of the latter is the pleasant surprise at film’s end.

Edge - Risqué 2.0

Gently Risqué

Reality - Glib 1.3

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