Mad Money ***

"Mad Money" is a fun caper movie, all the more delicious because the chicanery is organized by Diane Keaton in a wonderful comedic turn. Keaton plays Bridget Cardigan, an upper-middle-class Kansas City housewife, whose husband Don (a more than adequate Ted Danson) has been out of work for a year. Desperate for healthcare benefits, and trying to sell their mansion, Bridget takes a job emptying trash at the Federal Reserve Bank (you know, the place where they shred and burn old currency, among other, more esoteric economic tasks). Doing the shredding is Nina Brewster, a solid single mom engagingly played by Queen Latifah. And pushing the carts of soon-to-be-gone greenbacks is ditsy airhead Jackie Truman (a warm Katie Holmes).

Bridget concocts a scheme that soon has the three ladies rolling in dough. But what good is dough if you can't spend it, and thereby arouse suspicion? As their circle of crime expands, with corporate manager Ted Danson and an adorably goofy Adam Rothenberg as Bob Truman, tensions develop, and you know their delicate balancing act, and their luck, can't last forever.

Throughout, "Mad Money" is grounded in a real U.S., where corporate downsizing, struggling single black moms who want the best for their kids, and working stiffs who live in trailer homes are the facts of life. Questions are raised about greed, race, the definition of success in America, materialism, keeping up with the Joneses, the importance of appearance versus reality, and loyalty, not to mention right and wrong.

But these questions are not the focus of the movie; this is above all an enjoyable comedy, with sure performances by Keaton (especially), Latifah, and Holmes in an underwritten part. Director Callie Khoury ("Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood") surely deserves much of the credit for this happy outcome. As for writing, and there are many wonderful lines, it's hard to tell. There's a long list of writing credits, beginning with the original British TV movie "Hot Money." No matter. In the end, they got it right.

This is the first movie from Overture Films, the new studio created by Starz. It's an auspicious beginning. May there be many more.

Rated PG-13. 104 minutes. Directed by Callie Khoury. Written by Glenn Gers, John Mister, Neil McKay, Terry Winsor. Produced by James Acheson, Jay Cohen, Frank DeMartini. Distributed in the U.S. by Overture Films. Principal actors: Diane Keaton, Ted Danson, Katie Holmes, Adam Rothenberg, Queen Latifah.