Money Talks

Franklin Hatchett is a slick small time hustler who lives by the next quick score. When police pressure and criminal rivals circle him, he hatches a plan to trade protection for air time with a brash TV newsman. The premise hinges on a fast talking bargain where information, favors, and favors returned become the currency. What looks like a simple mutual protection racket soon pulls Hatchett into a web of schemes, double crossings, and late night stake outs. The film doubles as a brisk crime caper and a comedy of manners, with sharp banter, neon city visuals, and a sense that anyone can be playing more than one game at once. It stays light on sentiment while staying tense tonight.

Directed by Brett Ratner and released in 1997, Money Talks captures his early feature work. The film originates from an original screenplay by Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen, not based on existing material, reflecting a lean but efficient production approach.

Money Talks carried a budget of $25,000,000 and earned $48,407,611 at the worldwide box office, delivering respectable returns for a mid range action comedy and signaling solid profitability against its budget, with steady performance across international markets worldwide for studios.

Though not a watershed hit, the movie helped elevate Chris Tucker's rapid fire style and reinforced Brett Ratner's knack for blending street smart humor with action. The dynamic between a fast talking con man and a TV journalist found its own playful niche in 90s crime comedies of that era.

Critics at the time noted the film's brisk pace and its mix of humor with crime and media satire. The themes orbit around greed, the mutability of loyalty, and how news coverage can shape a crime story, elevating surface energy over depth, and prompting ongoing discussion about media power globally.