When this began, I didn't give it much hope, but it turns out that first impressions can be really wrong.Initially this seems like a blatant Oceans rip-off, all of which in my book rate as slick but soulless wastes of digital celluloid. As the film went along, my opinion slowly improved, simply because this French copy had much more panache, not to mention better scenery. Now I don't want to give anything away, but the twists at the very end tied the preceding events up so neatly and unexpectedly (at least for me) that they elevated this movie from stylish but mediocre to truly surprising and superior.

CA$H is a French con thriller that feels like it could have been made at any point in the last fifty years -- which is a good thing. The plot is nearly impossible to describe due to the many double crosses - and frankly it would be a shame to spoil it anyway - but suffice to say that it's about a con-man who sets out for vengeance on the person who murdered his brother. The cinematography and direction are a little unsure - not quite as slick as they want to be - but the many very good actors (some British) led by super-charmer Jean Dujardin and buttressed by several very pretty girls more than make up for it, as do the lovely locations in the South of France and the general old-fashioned charm of the piece. The plot changes course practically every ten minutes and even though, looking back, it's utterly unbelievable, it's still a lot of fun to watch.

Contains a partial spoiler at the end with a warning line as a comment about another review...I found this a delightful, fun and entertaining French movie about a masterful and highly convoluted confidence crime (or crimes). Thanks TF1 et al for a fun and entertaining movie! I'm recommending this one to friends for light entertainment. I feel it is well cast, has some fine contemporary actors/actresses and I believe they play their characters well. I feel an easy-going style, fun, light-hearted portrayal to the characters that plays well in the overall style of story. This is, after all, light-hearted pure entertainment. I can imagine the characters fun to portray and this film fun to make. The scenery and setting are bright and up-scale. Nothing is dreary or drab, adding to the overall light-hearted and delightful feel. I feel the reveals are well paced and will not give away too much or too little (at least for me) right up to the end. The pace seems right to me. It felt quick but not rushed. It kept moving and left me little time to ponder deeply, something I feel appropriate for this type of movie. There is virtually no action in this movie, it is all comedic drama with what I feel is well-paced tension and relief. Some dialog is in English, some in French. I've not been able to figure that one out, since all the characters speaking English are supposedly French. The English dialog has some Anglicisms recognizable to me (e.g. a "fiver") but may not be to some in the US and the English accents British or Canadian. The English (I'm not a francophone) subtitles for the French dialog seem very natural with the characters and what little French I know although I can't speak for the total accuracy of the translation. This is one of the easiest subtitled movies to watch I've seen, and I tend to browse the foreign film sections of video stores and rentals more than any other section. I think all but the most naive viewers will start realizing what is really happening very close to the end, but not too soon to spoil the ending. I think the writers, director and cast have all made viewers' reveal timing nicely elastic and not brittle.Partial Spoiler Alert.... One reviewer felt that no group would do anything this elaborate just to leave _____ out in the Mediterranean in a boat out of gas and found that too far outside the realm of suspended disbelief for comfort. I believe that review completely misses the strongly implied impending mortal revenge about to take place off camera and just past the movie's time line. But, I may be willing to suspend disbelief for this form of entertainment a little more than that reviewer. As with all movies of this type, the intricacy of the scheme hatched is far beyond what anyone would sensibly rely on in real life. End Partial Spoiler...

"Cash" is a sad case of Paris playing Hollywood, and failing. The plot is a total "Ocean's Twelve" knock-off, with bits of "Heist" and "After the Sunset" tossed in. Also, Catherine Zeta-Jones was about a zillion times hotter as Europol power bitch Isabel Lahiri (than Valeria Golino in the near-identical part of a struggling international forgery investigator). Everyone else is even more forgettable, with the possible exception of Ciarán Hinds in the part of Julia's hard-headed boss. Jean Reno, who appears in the small part of the big counterfeit kahuna, must have owed someone a favor. Don't waste your time with this.