Neither cold nor hard, “CA$H!” is a low-key, borderline-boring dramedy about how money makes pathetic those along all points of the food chain. Befitting its low budget, the recession-era Roadside Attractions release appears most authentic in its portrait of a working-class Chicago couple whose discovery of half a million dollars momentarily enlivens their marriage — until a British tough guy (Sean Bean), exacting as any banker, comes to collect. Albeit creative in its use of limited funds, “CA$H!” draws close to nil in its bid at satiric action, and won’t break the bank.
Tipped by his jailed twin, (Bean) as to the disappearance of a bountiful stash, Pyke Kubic (also Bean) implausibly obtains the keys to the Chicago DMV from a black-market businessman with a fully tattooed face, and uses the receipts for cars purchased in cash to locate the young Phelans, Sam and Leslie (Chris Hemsworth and Victoria Profeta, both good). A math wiz, Kubic is semi-humorously obsessive about collecting every penny, forcing the straight-laced marrieds to rob convenience stores to replace the cash they spent — this at the expense of whatever value “CA$H!” had left.
