OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY (1991)

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY (R) A black comedy that's been defanged. In this adaptation of Jerry Sterner's 1987 play, Danny DeVito gives a broadly entertaining performance as Lawrence J. Garfield, a feisty, obsessive corporate raider. Penelope Ann Miller is Kate Sullivan, the sexy lawyer who tries to prevent him from taking over New England Wire & Cable. After a while, the two hardball negotiators begin to fall for each other. As characters, though, they don't quite make sense: They're like cartoons of spitefulness whom someone halfheartedly tried to turn into human beings. The filmmakers have obviously bent over backwards to transform Sterner's play into an earnest, cautionary comedy. The trouble is, we thought we were watching a movie about Danny DeVito as a sleazy, infantile corporate munchkin. C

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