This movie is great entertainment that delivers a message without being preachy. And a measure of how successful it is: it makes you believe that Danny de Vito and Penelope Ann Miller actually could be a great, sexy couple! It is very much a movie of its time: the late 80's, early 90's, when corporate "raiders" and hostile takeovers of firms were in the news. Stock traders made fortunes and corporations were laying off thousands of people at a time as CEO's sought to raise the price of their stock, and it didn't matter what a company was making-- or not making-- as long as the price of the stock stayed up.So, in this environment of "greed is good" and Wall Street being the tail that wagged the dog of American productivity, we have this movie, which pits the good guy, Andrew "Jorgie" Jorgensen (played by the archetypal good guy actor, Gregory Peck), against the bad guy, corporate raider Lawrence Garfield (played by Danny de Vito).Jorgie is the majority stockholder and CEO of New England Wire & Cable Company, a firm that is a creation of his family and whose interests and employees he regards as a responsibility of his family. As played by Peck, Jorgie is the acme of decency and old-fashioned conservative values: hard work and thrift, expecting loyalty from his employees and demonstrating loyalty in return. Stubborn and resistant to change where he sees change as conflicting with his values. An upright, honest, virtuous man who believes that moral rightness will always be recognized and will always triumph.Danny de Vito is his nemesis: a corporate raider who rose from hardscrabble beginnings in the Bronx to a posh Manhattan office and mansion, whose expertise is in finding stocks that are undervalued and making a profit through manipulating the market. He is unabashed about what he does: he loves "the game," as he calls it, and plays it with the fighting spirit of a junk-yard pitbull. There's no malice in what he does, no hard feelings, but also no apology for the carnage he leaves in his wake. He's just doing what he's best at doing.And so de Vito identifies New England Wire & Cable as a prime target for takeover: the company is worth far more than the value of its stock. That's all de Vito needs to know, and the fight is on.The interest comes when Jorgie brings his step-daughter in to advise on how to fend off de Vito. Penelope Ann Miller plays Kate Sullivan, a young hot-shot lawyer in a Manhattan legal firm. She's a HOT hot-shot, no doubt about it, and much of the movie centers on her interactions with de Vito.The thing de Vito brings to his role is great energy and joy. This is a character that could be played as dark, as evil, as someone to be reviled, but there is a genuine likability to de Vito even as you see that what he's doing causes a lot of people a lot of harm, and that he's not above doing unethical things if he thinks he can get away with them. But for all that he's definitely not a "good guy," he's someone you can't really dislike. He's a rogue, but he's a rogue completely without malice. Just like a tiger will tear the throat out of its prey and is a dangerous predator, but is still a beast with qualities that make you admire it-- from a distance, or with the bars of a cage to protect you.The movie's final battle, the scene where Peck and de Vito make speeches to the company stockholders in support of what they represent, is an amazingly articulate piece of writing that is as superbly acted as anything you're going to see in the movies. IMO that one scene alone makes the movie worthwhile. That there's so much more to like about this movie really makes it a winner.Dean Jones has a role in the movie that I think is one of the best of his career. I don't think he got the respect in his career that he deserved; he did a lot of work in Disney films, and I think this caused people to take his talents as an actor lighter than they should. He's excellent in his role here.And Penelope Ann Miller-- she is absolute dynamite in this role, she's really the backbone of the action. Her interactions with de Vito are warm and believable and the chemistry between the two of them WORKS.There are some flaws to the movie: the biggest is that there is apparently some back-story, some conflict between the Jorgie character and Miller's character, that isn't made clear. She's Jorgie's step-daughter and it's apparent that at some time in their lives, there was a conflict, and that there is a reserve between them. But it's never made clear what the issue was, and to this extent the movie isn't satisfying.Piper Laurie's character, Jorgie's wife, is also perhaps not fully realized. She's good, but there's something missing, something I can't really describe.But those are small quibbles. Over all, this is a superb movie that I think is one of de Vito's best roles, and is a funny, thoughtful, well-written story that characterizes a particular time and issue that were defining to America.

This movie has to have been one of the most painful experiences of my life, and I dearly wish I could have not finished watching it in economics class. I don't know anything about the play, so I won't compare them, but there was pretty much nothing of redeeming value in the movie save the resolution to the company's plight and the speeches (which don't have a whole lot of redeeming value). First of all, Mr. DeVito's character was such a creep that the whole romance thing is way too ridiculous and disgusting to swallow and tolerate, much less believe. Second of all, the lead actress' acting was incredibly one dimensional. Third of all, every time Larry smokes and eats a doughnut at the same time, they managed to make it so disgusting that I felt as if I were having a heart attack, and I love doughnuts. You can't even look at him without gagging and hoping that he does have a heart attack. Everything in this movie makes your skin crawl, and I don't think it was entirely done on purpose. Perhaps they wanted to make Larry look like a creep, but that effect managed to seep into every single frame. It's not even that it's a poorly done film, it's just completely repellent. After I watched this, I felt disgusting for two days, as if I ate ash trays for lunch and dinner. This film leaves such a bad taste you can't enjoy what little good stuff there is.

Besides this being entertaining to watch De Vito and Penelope have fun dancing around a battle of the sexes all the while maintaining a serious business deal, this movie is very much UNDER rated as the morality play it is. Frank Capra couldn't have been better at creating the character Gregory Peck plays. And Danny DeVito was fabulous as someone you want to hate, but can't quite bring yourself to. His character is just too true to itself as a business man with a heart (for those that look beyond the initial image that his character has to get each time someone first meets this 'Wall Street giant'). This is a morality play that entertains too. In fact I consider this a 'litmus test' of how FREE market the attitude of a person viewing it is. De Vito's stockholders speech is something that should be taught in every economics and business class. The fact that it isn't and probably never will be is a reflection of why the U$A is fast sinking from its 1st class nation/economic status.

"Other People's Money" sort of takes "Wall Street" and puts a comedic spin on it. Danny DeVito - in full pumped-up, crazy form - plays Lawrence "Larry the Liquidator" Garfield, a corporate raider plotting a hostile takeover of a store that provides the town's livelihood. The plant's owner (Gregory Peck) sends young lawyer Kate Sullivan (Penelope Ann Miller) after Larry, but nothing goes as anyone planned.This seems like the sort of movie that only Norman Jewison could direct, how he takes a real-life issue and shows it in a manner to which we can all relate. The whole part about the relationship between Larry and Kate was maybe a little unnecessary, but it's overall good that the movie shows the Wall Street types for what they really are...even if you grow to admire Larry. Maybe if you grow to admire Larry, it's because Danny DeVito makes him so funny. The movie comes out very well done. Also starring Piper Laurie, Dean Jones and William DeAcutis in his final role.