I own over 1,000 movies and Drowning Mona is one of my favorites. It's a dark comedy... which not everyone can appreciate, hence the bad reviews... but the dialog is hysterical and the characters are awesome.Set in the quirky little town of Verplanck, New York... where virtually everyone drives a Yugo with a vanity plate... the movie is filled with odd characters that are the real key to it's overall charm.Bette Midler shines in the role of the recently deceased Mona... a woman with few if any redeeming qualities.Jamie Lee Curtis is sublime in the role of the slutty waitress Rona... complete with mullet and dangling cigarette.Pay attention to the details. That's where some of the best humor lies.If you enjoy dark, tongue-in-cheek, bizarre little comedies, this is your movie.

I rated this film as a 10 for reasons of "entertainment". If you can't sit down and enjoy this movie as to the wacky personalities of these folks you're in trouble. The cast is excellent and they all play their parts well. Beth Midler is fantastic as well as DaVito and Curtis. Lest we forget all the other cast members that balanced out this soon to be cult classic as a wonderful movie. When it gets down to it, this is just a fun movie and that is what a movie should do for you and that it to entertain you. Jeph is a sort of clueless individual that could be compared equal to a box of rocks when it comes to smarts. Bobby while being somewhat better still shows a bit of "doesn't really suspect much of anything" type of person. Phil while not the smartest of people displays himself as being a wimp when in Mona's presence. I'd say Wyatt and Ellie are probably the two most sane people in the movie. As Phil said about Mona, most of the cast are people with some sort of personality disorder. I did notice that with some of the flashbacks that Jeph did have both his hands at several points and I still wonder how he actually lost his hand.Still a fun movie, don't miss it along with some great sound tracks included too.It's a 10, yep......

It will go without saying five minutes into this movie that it is unlike any other movie you've seen. This sometimes dark, sometimes slapstick, sometimes subtle comedy boasts one of the most intriguing casts to date. There are a number of recognizable faces, Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Jamie Lee Curtis (to name a few), that brighten up the screen just that much. But to be honest, it was the roles played by Casey Affleck, Marcus Thomas, and William Fichtner especially that made 'Drowning Mona' so enjoyable for me. The movie itself goes back and forth between present time and flashbacks containing moments of a living Mona Dearly, who dies rather abruptly at the very beginning of the film. I think too many people say the plot it predictable. I was more than entertained for the entire movie and I never actually KNEW who actually killed Mona. Sure I had my predictions, and who doesn't. The point is that the movie's very funny and actually quite smart. Once we see Mona Dearly fly over a cliff in a car, the sense of craziness sets in. Your basic human instincts will at first allow you to feel bad for Mona (I hope). But once you see every person in town partying and laughing over her "timely" death, you can't help but play along. The part where Jeff, Mona's son played by Marcus Thomas, asks the police why Mona was driving his car while popping open a beer is absolutely priceless! The main characters in the film are Bobby Calzone (Casey Affleck) and Chief Rash (DeVito). Chief Rash is the only person in town who cares about Mona's death. Well, maybe it's more that it's his job than he really cares. Heck, even his co-workers could care less. Bobby also (kind of) feels sorry for Mona, but is allowed to laugh and enjoy the situation thanks to his fiancé Ellen (Neve Campbell). So for most of the movie, Rash just drives around in his Geo--take note of the opening disclaimer--and asks townies questions about what kind of person Mona truly was. The responses are all hilarious. I could go into great detail with almost 50 different quotes or scenes that back up the fact that Mona Dearly was a horrible person who deserved to die. But I just don't have the time. You really have to hear/see them to believe it. As I hinted to, William Fichtner's performance as Phil Dearly is hands down the best. He plays the ill-fated-but-happily-sorrowing-over-the-worst-person-he'd-ever-met husband. He is a very suspicious character, and seems to know something that no one else does. He puts the blame on Bobby Calzone, who is one of the most harmless people you could ever meet. What makes this particularly interesting is that Bobby is the future son-in-law of Chief Rash. So that is very hard for Rash, and us, the viewer, to believe. 'Drowning Mona' is pretty much a "whodunit" movie with a twist that makes you laugh and think at the same time. I guess I can't rebuff the fact that the storyline becomes predictable over time. And that's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars. But you'll still be impressed with the shifts between past and present and definitely the comedy. There's also an excellent cameo from former SNL star Will Ferrell. I won't spoil the rest.

Mona Dearly of upstate New York was a housewife and mother of a son played by none other than Bette Midler. She was married to Phil (played by the wonderful William Fichtner) Mona was abusive, mean, and probably the most disliked person in the small town. Her husband claimed to have been battered man. Watching Mona in action, you can understand his claims. Her husband Phil is having an affair with a diner waitress Rona, played by the wonderful Jamie Lee Curtis, who is also having an affair with Phil and Mona's son at the same time It's like a Jerry Springer episode at times. Neve Campbell plays Ellen who is engaged to Calzone, Casey Affleck's character, and is pregnant. Her father is played by the wonderfully talented Danny DeVito as the town Sheriff. There are other characters like lesbian Lucina who comforts Ellen with a kiss. The writing is fair to say the least. The cast look like they are having the time of their lives on screen and it comes across off screen as well.