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Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck ... see more see more... , William Fichtner , Marcus Thomas , Peter Dobson , Kathleen Wilhoite , Tracey Walter , Paul Ben-Victor , Paul Schulze , Mark Pellegrino , Raymond O'Connor , Will Ferrell , Lisa Rieffel , Fred Scialla , Nick Gomez

Rage, jealousy, murder, and Eastern European automotive engineering combine in this offbeat black comedy. Verplanck, NY, is a small town north of Manhattan that has the dubious distinction of being th... read more read more...e Yugo capital of America; the ill-fated import compact was first test-marketed in Verplanck, and nearly everyone in town drives one. So no one finds it unusual when a yellow Yugo is seen floating in the river, though seeing someone trapped inside is out of the ordinary. Verplanck's chief of police, Wyatt Rash (Danny De Vito), discovers that the deceased driver was a prominent local citizen, Mona Dearly (Bette Midler), and the evidence suggests that Mona's death was no accident. But the investigation into Mona's murder is hampered by one rather significant detail: nearly everyone in town hated Mona and wanted her dead. She alienated her son Jeff (Marcus Thomas) and his business partner Bobby (Casey Affleck). Bobby's girlfriend Ellen (Neve Campbell) (who is also Rash's daughter) is convinced that Mona would have tried to drive a wedge into their relationship. Mona's husband Phil (William Fichtner) couldn't stand her and fell into an affair with Rona (Jamie Lee Curtis), the waitress at the local diner. And even Rash's sidekick, Deputy Feege (Peter Dobson), spent too much time on the wrong end of Mona's temper to care that she's dead. Before long, the question is no longer who is a suspect, but who isn't? Drowning Mona was directed by Nick Gomez, who earned positive notices for his independent films New Jersey Drive and Illtown. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

39% liked it

14,773 ratings

Critics

29% liked it

76 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Nick Gomez

Release Date: March 3, 2000

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DVD Release Date: July 25, 2000

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Stats: 549 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (549)

  • moonrivers
    September 14, 2011
    moonrivers
    Borrows a lot from drawing room/dinner theater mysteries because everyone but everyone wants to see the victim dead ... and transports the action to some po-dunk upstate New York town. Alas the scenery change - nor the sad Yugo as the victim of countless sad jokes - can jump sta... read morert the inertia felt here.
  • FiLmCrAzY
    April 14, 2009
    FiLmCrAzY
    uummm not to shore whether this was good or not really it was vaguly amusing but not much of a story i guess different people have different taste !! give it a go !
  • deano
    June 23, 2008
    deano
    This dark, tasteless, and cynical comedy is funny as hell, although the suggestively violent segments may repel mainstream viewers. It's a warped murder mystery involving a roster of nitwit suspects so hilariously feeble-minded that they can't help but look guilty... particularly... read more since everybody in the entire hamlet of Verplanck, New York, loathed the victim. Peter Steinfeld aptly calls his script a "white-trash Murder on the Orient Express."
  • mjgildea
    May 10, 2008
    mjgildea
    Admittedly, Drowning Mona has some genuinely hilarious moments. But because 90-95% of it was wandering crap with no focus or point, I can't remember those moments. Or bear to go into any more detail about this movie. If you genuinely love this movie I feel sorry for you.
  • webalina
    May 21, 2007
    webalina
    Watch the trailer instead...it's better. It must be. It convinced me to spend a evening watching this.
  • EbertsLittleApprentice
    June 14, 2010
    EbertsLittleApprentice
    I rather drive myself into a lake after seeing this.
  • nadyajoensen
    May 15, 2010
    nadyajoensen
    This movie is about Mona who ends up driving her car into a river where she dies. After her death everyone in town becomes a suspect. This movie has a lot of talented actors and they're all combined into this funny and strange comedy movie. Mona is played by Bette Midler and I ca... read moren't see how any other actor would have played this part any better because she's obnoxious and annoying and one can't but wonder how people wouldn't want her gone.
  • SunilJawahir
    March 27, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    A really funny but dark comedy mystery where anyone could have done it.
  • johnattridge
    August 25, 2008
    johnattridge
    With the combined star talents of Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck, Neve Campbell and Will Ferrell I was expecting a decent, if mediocre comedy in 'Drowning Mona'. In the end I got a couple of chuckles, nothing more. The film plays out like an extremely... read more poor attempt at excessive and silly humour, but it comes across as lame, untidy and unfunny.

    The film recounts the drowning of the titular Mona who drives her car off a cliff, and how each member of the small town might have a part to play in her death. Was it murder, attempted murder or suicide? Frankly, I never cared. Not one part of the script makes you care for any of these characters, or the plot revelations. Everything just unfolds, in a haphazard sort of way, and all you can do is endure.

    All of the performances are off-key; the only one I would be willing to grant an exception being Neve Campbell's, who is adequate as the ditzy fiancé to her equally bemusing boyfriend. The rest are simply caricatures. A few times I wondered if that may be the point, but there are too many lines that really try for moving dialogue; I couldn't see it. Bette Midler comes across as brash and abrasive, Casey Affleck uncertain and Curtis just speaks her words with a cocky bravado. None of the characters have any redeeming qualities worth mentioning.

    The only funny jokes that make their way into the screenplay just feel like they belong to a separate picture. 'Drowning Mona' has a major problem with tone; one minute it's a slapstick comedy, the next a B-rate thriller. It moves up and down too frequently, each scene belonging to itself rather than making a complete and cohesive whole.

    Conclusively, 'Drowning Mona' just doesn't work. I don't hate it, but neither do I appreciate any of its attempts at comedy, right up to the awful wedding finale where the characters briefly reunite over some lousy pop music. (Actually, I do hate that part). The film is immature, crude and dull, full of a bunch of aggravating characters who I wouldn't mind seeing at the bottom of a river either. No investigation necessary. Case closed.
  • kenscheck
    September 12, 2011
    kenscheck
    Hilarious dark comedy about a woman that was so vile in life that no one really cares when she dies...and everyone is a suspect when it is discovered she was murdered. DeVito leads a great ensemble cast. Middler is amazing as the awful Mona Dearly. Plenty of funny scenes and m... read moreemorable moments. If you enjoy dark comedy, this is a good one to check out.

View All Drowning Mona Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jay Boyar
January 1, 2000
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

I got a kick out of much of Drowning Mona.

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, At the Movies

My problem was that I didn't care who killed Mona Dearly, or why. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Drowning Mona is a funny comedy for about 90 seconds. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
January 1, 2000
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

I find it hard to dislike.

David L. Beck
January 1, 2000
David L. Beck, San Jose Mercury News

Drowning Mona seems cut out to be a special, two-hour PBS Mystery! not a theatrical release.

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Disappointingly tame (and often lame) comedy that consistently misses opportunities to do something clever or inventive. Full Review

Todd McCarthy
January 1, 2000
Todd McCarthy, Variety

[Gomez] extracts potent comedy from the material's more outrageous situations and displays a sure hand with his talented cast. Full Review

Gemma Files
January 1, 2000
Gemma Files, Film.com

No kind of triumph of anything over anything.

Lisa Schwarzbaum
January 1, 2000
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Too pleased with its own outrageousness. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
January 1, 2000
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

Mona, a screenplay dripping with contempt, gives its cast enough rope and enough bad jokes to make you feel seriously sorry for all of them.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Drowning Mona Trivia

  • The cast of this 2000 movie includes Danny De Vito, Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, Bette Midler and Casey Affleck  Answer »
  • What movie stars Danny Devito, Bette Midler, Neve Cambell, Jammie Lee Curtis and Casey Affleck  Answer »
  • In What movie does William Fichtner, Marcus Thomas, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis and Casey Affleck play suspects in a murder case?  Answer »
  • Who connects That Old Feeling, Drowning Mona, Hocus Pocus,For The Boys, Stella ?  Answer »
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