the keen wisdom of an elderly bank robber , the naive ambitions of a sexy hospital nurse , and a partnership that blossoms between the two are the fine components that make up a modest , little caper adventure entitled `where the money is . ' the elderly bank robber is henry ( paul newman ) , a famous criminal that was only recently caught . he has pulled off dozens of successful heists and has probably stashed away a small fortune . always the shrewd thinker , he begins working on a plan to get out of jail . this involves years of studying buddhism and self-hypnosis . when he is prepared to execute his plan , he uses what he has learned to fake a stroke . now a seemingly twitching vegetable , he is temporarily transferred to a state-run home . carol ( linda fiorentino ) is the nurse that cares for him . she's a very bright person with a good heart . yet , her life is a miserable waste of time . the most exciting thing to do in town is to fix cars . her days at the hospital facility are spent leading wheelchair calisthenics . worse , she's in a dead-end relationship with high-school sweetheart wayne ( dylan mcdermott ) . they became a couple because they were king and queen of the prom . to her , this made sense long ago . but now , it's a different story . wayne seems equally bored with his life , but is content enough to stay put . wayne's greatest ambition is to become a night shift supervising foreman . carol feels as lifeless as many of the other hospital patients , but she's never been anywhere else and doesn't see many other opportunities in life . however , when henry falls under her care , her outlook begins to change . the medical reports may state that he suffered a massive stroke . carol , however , begins to grow suspicious that henry may just be faking it after all . maybe she can get through to him , and maybe she can learn something about the money that he has stashed away . the opening 30 minutes are filled with hilarious attempts of carol trying to bring henry ? back to life . ' and what are some of carol's resuscitation techniques ? perhaps an erotic lapdance might stir his senses . if that fails , maybe she'll try a little shock therapy by pushing him off a 20-foot high pier into the cold lake below . when he finally comes out of his state of self-trance , the movie's direction changes , though it remains equally if not more entertaining . carol sees that henry is filled with charisma and self-assuredness . she is invigorated by his commanding presence and refreshed by his vibrancy . this , of course , puts wayne in an odd situation . henry and carol's bond grows stronger when they enter into an agreement to rob an armored car . henry needs this heist because he is unable to retrieve his original stash . meanwhile , this is carol's ticket to a better life . wayne is uncomfortable with the situation , but helps out nonetheless . however , his lack of commitment threatens their success . the heist sequence is suspenseful , well paced , and casts the uneasy feeling that something will horribly go wrong . `where the money is' does more to spotlight newman and fiorentino than it does to showcase a story about a nifty heist . newman is the real joy of the film , adroitly showing that at age 75 , he's still really hot stuff . he possesses a sly smile , displays a dominating attitude , and a projects a demeanor that is undeniably attractive . fiorentino is also a fun presence . you root for her despite her sense of amorality . sure , she wants to commit robbery and has little compunction about pushing a wheelchair-stricken man into a lake , but we can see that to escape her dead-end world , she needs to do something drastic . with two charismatic characters such as these , it's hard to ignore that `where the money is' is where the fun is .
