‘Money Talk$’ Brings Grit and Heart to Oscar-Qualified Short

Tony Mucci is an emerging writer and director from New York City, known for his visually driven work in music videos for artists like Justin Bieber, Juice WRLD, and Drake. Now gaining attention on the film festival circuit, Mucci is establishing himself as a gifted filmmaker with a clear and confident creative vision.

Mucci co-wrote Money Talk$ with actor and producer David Mazouz. The Oscar-qualified short recently won Best Producer at HollyShorts and made a strong impression at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. Set in 1981 New York, the film follows a $100 bill as it passes between strangers, connecting their lives through an unseen chain of consequence.

The film has all the elements to keep viewers engaged for its 30-minute runtime. Mucci and Mazouz expertly captures the gritty atmosphere of Reagan-era New York, immersing the audience in the lives of the main characters. The $100 bill serves as a powerful link, almost becoming a character itself as it moves between hands, guiding the story through different worlds.

On screen, it also highlights the complex relationship between money and people, with the combination of its time period and concept making it particularly compelling.

The Tone is set right away when Francesca Scorsese, playing a damsel in distress, rides in a cab with an arrogant driver played by Geroge DeNoto. As he speeds through the city, a $100 bill flies out the window. An elderly grandmother finds it and later gives it to her grandson, Benji, for his birthday. As a kid would, he spends it on toys at a corner toy store where the clerk, played by Mazouz, quietly pockets the bill.

Mazouz is soon revealed to be involved with drugs and in debt. A thug corners him in an alley and knocks out his teeth in a brutal New York 80s style pistol-whipping where Mazouz’s acting comes to life on screen. The bill than drifts into the underworld, moving from a dealer to a sex worker before landing with Cleopatra, an exotic dancer played by Zolee Griggs who does a great job displaying her vulnerability. Detached and unmoved by the money tossed her way, she receives an unwanted pep talk from the club owner, played by Bo Dietl.

The story later circles back to the cab driver, now on foot, who scoffs at a homeless veteran and tells him to “get a job.” Cleopatra overhears and quietly hands the man the $100 bill. In the final scene, she returns home to her son, Benji, who had unknowingly spent that same bill earlier. With a hint of irony, she says, “Wait, don’t tell me you blew all the money Grandma gave you on these toys.”

The plot is strong and original, but what makes the film stand out are its themes of duality and human nature, revealed through the bill’s turbulent journey across the city. In one of the last scenes, the narrator, Benjamin Franklin, breaks the fourth wall and comes to life during a close-up of the bill. These final moments delivered through Franklin’s narration really highlight Mazouz and Mucci’s vision and genius.

Franklin’s narration sharpens as the film nears its end, coinciding with Cleopatra’s return to her apartment.

 “I find it curious that an industrious person should give charity, for a penny saved is a penny earned. Nothing reveals character quite like money. It’s what you do that determines who you are, so why give charity? Franklin remarks. “Well, when you are good to others, you are best to yourself,”

 His final words help close the film: “Remember, happiness is fleeting, and the mark you leave on others just might live forever.”

 Mucci and Mazouz’s Money Talk$ captures New York at its worst, delivers an entertaining ride and, in a feat difficult for any director to pull off, ends by adding a wholesome touch to a gritty story.

By Lou Primavera