Damon Wayans wrote "Mo' Money" as a star vehicle for himself and is credited as an executive producer. So, so it's safe to say he deserves the blame.
Unfortunately, while it displays many facets of Wayans' talents, the film is little more than a routine action-thriller, gussied up with sporadic broad comic sequences.
What's most surprising here is how violent "Mo' Money" is, right from the opening scene.
And Wayans isn't satisfied to be both a romantic leading man and a wild-eyed comic. In the climactic shoot-out/car chase/one-on-one-fight-with-the-bad-guy, he turns into Indiana Jones.
Wayans is Johnny, a petty scam artist who, with his younger brother Seymour (played by his real-life younger brother Marlon Wayans), lives hand-to-mouth with small-time cons.
One day, Johnny meets a beautiful woman on the street, follows her to work — she's an executive for Dynasty Credit Cards — and manages to finagle a job near her. He's in love and vows to go straight but it isn't long before he's tempted by the not-quite canceled credit cards that cross his desk.
So, Johnny takes his brother out on an spending spree, filmed in music video fashion, of course. But it seems he's been set up by the crooked security chief (John Diehl), who wants Johnny to work for him in an even bigger scam. One that includes murder. By the time Johnny announces he wants out, it's too late.
Meanwhile, there's Lt. Walsh (Joe Santos), the cop who's investigating all this. It seems Johnny's father was also a cop, killed in the line of duty. He was also Lt. Walsh's partner. And if that's not enough, he saved Walsh's life.
In between the by-the-numbers intrigue there are comic scenes — with far too much Jerry Lewis-style "spastic" humor — that could be skits lifted from "In Living Color." If Wayans had done Homey the Clown or had his finger-snapping film critic review his own movie, these moments couldn't be more broadly played.
As a counterpoint there are scenes of graphic violence, gross-out gags and tender romance, all of which make for a most uneasy mix.
And that violence tends to undermine an already weak thriller plot. Too bad Wayans didn't have enough confidence to simply write a romantic comedy without all the dumb "Lethal Weapon" machinations. And too bad director Peter MacDonald ("Rambo III," "Tango & Cash") leans so heavily on over-the-top action.
On the up side, there are the performances of the Wayans brothers. Damon, last seen with Bruce Willis in "The Last Boy Scout," is a terrific talent. And young Marlon, in his first film, makes a strong impression of his own.
Though they are window-dressing, Stacey Dash as Damon Wayans' romantic interest and Almayvonne, as an aggressive woman who latches onto Marlon Wayans, are also quite good.
"Mo' Money" had great potential. Too bad so much of it was squandered.
It is rated R for violence, profanity, vulgarity, sex and drug abuse.