''For Love or Money'' (also released as ''The Concierge'') is a 1993 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian-American retired actor. Beginning his career in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ''Family Ties'' (1 ...

and

Gabrielle Anwar Gabrielle Anwar is a British and American actress. She is known for her television roles as Sam Black in the second series of ''Press Gang'', as Margaret Tudor in the first season of ''The Tudors'', as Lady Tremaine in the seventh season of '' ...

Plot

Doug Ireland is a concierge at the Bradbury, a luxurious hotel in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Doug is very well-connected and is very good at his job, giving personal attention to guests like Gene Salvatore while occasionally pocketing a big tip. He also helps people who don’t tip as well, such as Harry Wegman. Doug's dream is to open his own hotel on Roosevelt Island. He has saved every cent and obtained an option on an old hotel. But he only has a few weeks to begin development and needs at least $3 million immediately to start or the development goes back to the city. Doug's best chance is Christian Hanover, a somewhat unscrupulous billionaire. Christian considers the proposal and asks Doug to "take care" of his mistress, Andy Hart, a perfume saleswoman. Christian has been leading Andy on, making her believe that he was divorcing his wife. Doug had been flirting with Andy before he knew she was seeing Christian, and had asked her out multiple times. However, she always stated that she had a boyfriend. Doug spends time with Andy when Christian neglects her, (as a “favor” for Christian) and he saves Andy and Christian from an embarrassing scene at a party in Christian's house with his wife, Elenor. Doug learns that Christian is deceiving Andy about getting a divorce, stating, “you don’t divorce your third wife”. But because his hotel proposal is urgent and Andy is old enough to make her own decisions, he doesn't intervene. However, as he and Andy spend time together, he develops feelings for her, going to an elegant restaurant with her after Christian is late due to a date with his wife. He simultaneously helps Wegman with his failing marriage, helping him get his wife to love him again. Andy learns that a document Christian has asked Doug to sign was intended to permit the billionaire to take over the hotel project and force Doug out. Christian reveals that an IRS agent who was tailing Doug about the real estate property he (Doug) bought until he (Christian) and his lawyers took care of it was actually working with Christian to get the property. Christian smugly tells Andy that the project was going to make a fortune and he wasn't going to share it with a mere concierge. Andy abandons him to warn Doug, who is chasing after her to tell her Christian isn’t divorcing his wife. After the two reunite at the Queensboro Bridge and reveal to each other about the deception, Doug says he never signed the document due to leaving to warn Andy, so Christian can't take over the property. In the end, after Doug and Andy marry, he gets a call from Wegman, who despite his frugalness is a successful financier, has accidentally been sent Doug's business plan by a senile member of the hotel staff Doug refused to fire and has decided to put up the $3 million that Doug needs.

Main cast

as Doug Ireland *

as Andy Hart * Anthony Higgins as Christian Hanover *

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

as Ed Drinkwater * Michael Tucker as Mr. Harry Wegman * Fyvush Finkel as Milton Glickman *

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

as Gene Salvatore *

Isaac Mizrahi Isaac Mizrahi (born October 14, 1961) is an American fashion designer, television presenter and chief designer of the Isaac Mizrahi brand for Xcel Brands. Based in New York City, he is best known for his eponymous fashion lines. Mizrahi was prev ...

as Julian Russell * Goodfella Mike G. (as Mike G.) as Charlie the Doorman * Saverio Guerra as Carmen * Daniel Hagen as Vincent, Bartender * La Chanze as Nora * Paula Laurence as Mrs. Elinor Vigushin * Donna Mitchell as Eleanor Hanover *

Debra Monk Debra Monk (born February 27, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and writer, best known for her performances on the Broadway stage. She earned her first Tony Award for the 1993 production of ''Redwood Curtain'' and won an Emmy Award for sev ...

as Mrs. Wegman *

Harry Bugin Harry Bugin (March 10, 1929 – October 6, 2005) was an American film, stage and television actor and musician. Life and career Born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Isidore and Sadie Bugin, and brother to Ruth Bugin, he was a graduate of ...

as Joey Pickles *

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...

as Mr. Himmelman

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 37% based on reviews from 19 critics. Roger Ebert of ''

The Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' awarded the film a two out of four stars and described the film as "the kind of movie where you walk in, sit down, and start thinking this is where you came in." Gene Siskel of ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' awarded the film a two and a half out of four stars and stated that the film was "a solid setup for a good story, but ''For Love or Money'' doesn't have one to tell." It was not a commercial success domestically in North America, earning less than half its production budget before being withdrawn from theatres after just four weeks of release.''For Love or Money''
Box Office Mojo

References

External links

* * *
Review of film
at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' {{Brian Grazer 1993 films 1993 romantic comedy films Films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld Films set in New York City Imagine Entertainment films Universal Pictures films Films produced by Brian Grazer Films set in hotels Films scored by Bruce Broughton American romantic comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films