Milk Money

Three boys pool their allowances to hire V, a warmhearted sex worker, to give them the private-show they think will be exciting and harmless. After the encounter she drives them back toward the suburbs, only to suffer car trouble and attract unwanted attention from a mobster named Waltzer who wants her gone. Realizing the quiet streets and ordinary houses offer cover, V stays in the neighborhood and keeps a low profile. That plan gets complicated when she meets Tom, a single dad who enjoys life with his son and doesn’t know what V really does for a living, and she has to decide how much of herself to reveal while danger and feelings quietly build.

Released in 1994, the film was directed by Richard Benjamin from a screenplay by John Mattson. The cast includes Melanie Griffith as V, Ed Harris as Tom Wheeler, Malcolm McDowell as Waltzer, Anne Heche in an early role, and Michael Patrick Carter as Tom’s son, blending comedy and drama in a mainstream studio package.

The movie earned modest box office returns and didn’t become a major commercial hit, performing below the level that might have been expected given its star billing. It wasn’t a blockbuster, but it reached an audience curious about its unusual premise.

Critics were divided, reflected in a middling average score from viewers, with some reviewers appreciating Griffith’s charm and the film’s lighter moments while others faulted its tonal shifts and premise. The movie juggles romantic comedy beats with melodrama, touching on themes of parenting, social judgment, and secrecy in suburban life, and its balance of humor and sincerity often felt uneven to reviewers.

Milk Money is often remembered for its provocative hook, a concept that sparked conversation about how sexuality and innocence are portrayed in mainstream films. The premise and marketing made it a talking point in the mid 1990s, and it remains a curious entry in the era’s romantic comedies, noted for casting choices and the way it mixed scandalous ideas with small town sensibilities.