Other People's Money

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining........2007-09-06

Other People's Money is a good "feel good" and yet hilarious movie about a Wall St. corporate raider played by Danny Devito who sets his target on a debt free, nearly century old company whose balance sheets are whistle clean.

However, the fictitious company, New England Wire & Cable has a few gatekeepers that are prepared to give this capitalist a run for his money. The head gatekeeper, "Jorgy" played by legendary screen star Gregory Peck delivers a sensational performance as its chairman and major shareholder.

This clash of the titans sets the stage for a battle, full of comedy I might add, between New England Wire's champion, played by Penelope Ann Miller, as the rival attorney who challenges Devito's character at his game. Weapons of choice- a concoction of wit, connivery, wheedling, deception, charm, and what else, seduction.

The movie is a good primer on the nomenclatures of hostile takeovers and corporate dealings. You learn various buzz words like 13-Ds, green mail, and stock buybacks. You also get to witness a good ol' fashion throw back proxy fight at a shareholder's meeting.

Your time invested will be amusingly rewarded.

A cheesy little comedy..........2007-01-26

... but DeVito's speech at the shareholder's meeting was required viewing in one of my MBA classes. The movie can be a good primer on hostile takeovers, how and why they are done. The sugar-sweet happy ending was a let-down (I guess I'm a greedy uncaring goob), but the lessons of the movie weren't lost.

Very good movie for business lessons.......2006-11-13

A great movie to be used in teaching business. The movie shows how the changes in the enviroment affect the companies that don't innovate themselves. And it's good to show how the capitalism drives de growth of economie.

Seasonal Classic.......2005-10-30

I'm an avid movie maniac. I have certain films that I can only watch at certain times of the year, and do, every year. Other Peoples Money, starts off my fall movie viewing, after Halloween of course. I love the new England Autumn charm of this film. The story is good, dialogue clever and the chemistry between Miller and DeVito is scary. An unlikely romanic couple if ever there was. A Classic in my book!

OPM- Used in my Business Management classes..........2005-10-10

There is no nudity in this movie but there are some vaguely sexual discussions. Even some adults might miss the true points being made but you may want to consider that before allowing children to see OPM.

That said, this is the best business movie I have ever come across. When I first saw it in the theater I was all for Gregory Peck's character until DeVito's speech at the end which is truly thought provoking. In teaching business management at the University of Southern Mississippi, I have my students watch the whole thing at the beginning of the semester to acquaint them with the notion that those who have the goal of making money are not all bad. For some reason, even though they want to be in business, my students too often think of running a business and making money as grubby, nasty chores performed by evil people. The characters in OPM force them to examine those beliefs.

Other reviewers have made the point that this a funny movie and it truly is. The humor is probably better appreciated by adults than children since it is not of the slapstick kind but rather uses plays on words.

While the characters in OPM are somewhat one-dimensional, what I enjoyed is that they are always true to themselves. When offered a million dollars by Piper Laurie's character to go away , DeVito responds "It is not enough." She was being true to her goals of minimizing conflict in her company and he was being true to his goals of maximizing his wealth. When asked why, he gives an answer that shows that he doesn't accept the idea that he is the bad guy in this drama.

I particularly appreciated the movie not making DeVito's character out to be a totally bad guy. That is a real failing of most movies coming out of Hollywood. Other reviewers have talked about how his relationship with Penelope Ann Miller's character shows his humanity but I think people should take note of his relationship with his chauffeur and his secretary and their loyalty to him. He makes use of his reputation as a tough guy to serve his business needs but there is much more to the man.

All together, this is truly a great movie. It amazes me that it took so long for it to come out on DVD since it has all the stars in the world (DeVito, Peck, Miller, Laurie, Stockwell, etc.)

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