Brandon at Random Reviews

Years ago in the mid-to-late 90s, before TikTok, YouTube, or social media in general, the world was taken by storm. Comedic actor Chris Tucker was starring in a handful of films. He gained notoriety as comic relief in the movie “Friday”, but then he starred with Jackie Chan in the buddy cop comedy Rush Hour and Tuckermania took the world by storm. He was also in Dead Presidents and The Fifth Element and a few others, but Rush Hour in my opinion put him on the map. Somewhere between Friday and Rush Hour, Money Talks happened.

Charlie Sheen already had a very well established career that spanned back to his heartthrob days in the 80s. I say that without knowing if Sheen was ever a big time young Hollywood crush, I haven’t had that conversation with any trusted female family or friends, but I assume he at least used to be a good looking guy and maybe still is. So this movie was pre-Two and a Half Men, post-Hot Shots Sheen, which was not a great stretch for him.

This movie, “Money Talks” is about a two-bit hustler named Franklin (Tucker) who gets accused of murder, and down-on-his-luck reporter James (Sheen) who initially wanted to expose Franklin for a small story, but has now seized the opportunity to help Franklin hide out for a few days in exchange for an exclusive story. Director Brett Ratner also directed all 3 Rush Hour films, and that is very evident, it feels like it could’ve been a low key original installment in that franchise.

To be honest, I loved this movie as a younger man. It is funny and has a pretty solid story that does manage to hold the average viewer’s interest. The two stars fit the movie well and have great chemistry. Plus Heather Locklear (schwiiiinnng) is in it and that’s not something I’d complain about ever. That’s what I love about these childhood celebrity crushes man, I keep getting older, they keep also getting older at the same pace as me and remain good-looking.

So this movie blends its story well with comedy that Chris Tucker carries on his back the entire time. Like I said, the plot is good imo and it stays interesting with a lot of tension built-in. Charlie Sheen does play an aggressively unlikeable douche here, more so than unusual, so be aware of that because you just wanna be like “hey, fuck this guy, I don’t care if anything good happens to him. And he’s with Heather Locklear? Eat shit.” But obviously that’s just his character, otherwise Charlie Sheen is a stand-up guy.

This is a solid hangover movie, definitely a good casual watch. It’s probably not gonna feel too fresh with all the movies that have come out over the years that are like it, but I still enjoy it.

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