"Mad Money" Co-stars

My kids dragged me to see “Mad Money” on Sunday. It wasn't that I did not want to see it. I had set my sights on "The Great Debaters", but it was not playing at that theater at the moment. However I am glad that I did see it. It opened my eyes up to how certain extenuating circumstances can get you caught up to the point doing something illegal no matter how moral and honest you are. It also made me glad to see certain actors getting more prominent roles, and showed some actors that are under the radar who are really great actors. The casting was perfect with the well known actors: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, and Christopher McDonald.

Stephen Root is one of those actors that constantly amaze me. As soon as “Office Space” came on video, I bought it immediately. It is a hilarious movie, and when I needed a laugh, it never failed to deliver. The ex liked it also; he kept it after the divorce. Although I have watched that film a dozen of times and saw Stephen Root in other features, I never realized that he was the Milton Waddams character. I had a duh moment when my daughter pointed it out to me. Apparently she must have watched Office Space recently, or her memory is sharper than mines. I enjoyed him also in the movie “ Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” and the NBC series "NewsRadio," which was not the same after the death of Phil Hartman. Besides being one of the voices for one of the characters on "Finding Nemo," "Ice Age," and “King of the Hill,” Stephen Root seems to keep busy. Currently he is featured in an AT&T commercial reading the Cable Fairy tales as he extols the virtues of AT&T over cable.

Finesse Mitchell: I thought he was good playing the wise cracking security guard foil alongside Roger R. Cross' straight guy. I have occasionally watched him on Saturday Night Live, but never was enthusiastic about the characters he played on the show. I do like his column in Essence Magazine, and feel that he does have a bright future, providing that he finds an unique angle or role that helps him break out of the general black comedian genre.

Roger R. Cross: I have seen him play so many agents, military captains, cops, guards, undercover men that I wondered if they would let him show some emotion, although he still was a bit repressed in the movie. I recently watched him again in “The Chronicles of Riddick.” But when I saw him in the “Mad Money” movie all I could think was: “About time he played somebody's love interest!” Although I felt that they did not really allow enough time for him to smooch with Queen Latifah, I was so happy that they gave him a chance to shine.