filmcritic . com presents a review from staff member bradley null . you can find the review with full credits at <a href= " http : //www . filmcritic . com/misc/emporium . nsf/2a460f93626cd4678625624c007f2b46/2806678910bd05a588256896002ac2e9 ? opendocument " >http : //www . filmcritic . com/misc/emporium . nsf/2a460f93626cd4678625624c007f2b46/2806678910bd05a588256896002ac2e9 ? opendocument</a> if you've ever found yourself in a theater watching a movie like throw momma from the train or don't tell mom the babysitter's dead , then you'll understand my experience with drowning mona . drowning mona is one of those films that you might hear about and shrug it off as a bad idea . then you'll see a trailer and realize that your first instinct was right . there is no logical reason for you to ever see this movie . it looks unfunny , moronic , and you have already crossed it off the list of all the movies you are potentially interested in ever investing your time in . but despite all of that , you somehow end up forking over eight bucks for the privilege to see it . and your worst fears are realized . suffice it to say that drowning mona is a bad film . it is a very bad film . let us count the ways . first , there is the plot . everybody hates mona . mona gets killed . and the question is not who did it , but who didn't do it . as far as this plot goes , let me just ask , can anybody think of a good whodunit black comedy ? hell , the trouble with harry was alfred hitchcock's worst movie . i'll even go so far as to say that it's simply not wise to attempt to conjure any sort of comedy out of movies about mean and/or dead women . anyone who has seen either of the two movies cited above should understand this concern . in the particular case of mona , it seems to be an important element of the plot and theme of the movie that nobody seems to care who killed mona . they are just glad that she is dead . well , i ask , if nobody in the movie cares , then why the hell would we ? the second problem with the film is the characters and the acting . the actors were actually the reason i talked myself into seeing this film in the first place . i mean sure , danny devito and bette midler have a tendency to not discriminate when it comes to scripts . and they also have a tendency to sink to the level of their material . but here we had jamie lee curtis , william fichtner , casey affleck , and will ferrell , all actors whom i before had thought either had some talent or were at the very least a little funny . but none of them pulled it off here . affleck particularly , who was hilarious in good will hunting , turns in a conspicuously morose performance as the good kid that turns into the prime suspect . fichtner has the sole funny line in the script . ferrell , as the funeral home director , trying to pull off yet another variation of his saturday night live stock character ( half shifty , half outright weird ) , just can't seem to suck enough out of the script to generate a single laugh . the third problem with the film is the theme , otherwise known as the point . to put it bluntly , this movie has no point . so just in case your best judgment has left you and you find yourself standing at the ticket booth . maybe everything else is sold out . maybe you feel a sudden compulsion to experience the entire oeuvre of bette midler . maybe you're just not thinking . please , do not see this movie . if movies like this perform poorly enough at the box office , maybe we won't be subjected to any more of them . that's my public service announcement for the month . black comedy is hard . only the select few , like the coen brothers or stanley kubrick seem to be able to pull it off . please note that none of them had anything to do with this film . 
