Nothing to Lose (1997 film)

Plot

Advertising executive Nick Beam (Tim Robbins) thinks his life is going very well—until he returns home from work and spies on his wife Ann (Kelly Preston) apparently having an affair with another man, who he deduces is his boss, Philip Barlow (Michael McKean), from a pair of cufflinks on the kitchen sink. On the edge of a nervous breakdown, Nick drives around the city until small-time carjacker T-Paul (Martin Lawrence) jumps into Nick's SUV and attempts to rob him. Turning the tables on his mugger, Nick essentially kidnaps T-Paul on the spot and drives him to the desert. After T-Paul robs a gas station in the Arizona desert, the mismatched pair devises a scheme to rob Philip in revenge for the affair. Nick knows the combination to a safe in his office containing a large amount of cash, as well as the best time to enter, and where not to venture in the building. T-Paul knows the weaknesses of the security system, how to avoid the cameras, and how to get through any electronic locks that they might encounter.

Another criminal duo, Davis "Rig" Lanlow and Charles "Charlie" Dunt (John C. McGinley and Giancarlo Esposito) get blamed for the gas-station robbery and pursue the pair to L.A. After a brief confrontation, the duo ram Nick's truck off the road and hold the two at gunpoint. T-Paul manages to disarm them but during their escape from the 'real' criminals, he accidentally shoots Nick in the right arm. T-Paul takes Nick to his apartment so his wife can bandage Nick's arm; while there, Nick peruses "Terrance" T-Paul's electrical engineering certification and a stack of rejection letters from potential employers. That night, the pair execute their plan. During the robbery, Nick damages his boss' prize fertility statue and reveals himself to the security camera, taunting his boss about getting revenge. The situation worsens further as Rig and Charlie, who swiped Nick's business card and followed them from Nick's office to the hotel, hold T-Paul up and steal the money while placing T-Paul in a trap for Nick to deal with when he returns from the bar.

Nick calls Ann to confront her but Ann explains he is wrong about the affair. Nick actually caught Ann's sister and her fiancee in bed when they came into town earlier than expected; having never seen her sister before, Nick mistook her for Ann. Philip's cufflinks were left over from a Christmas party and Ann left them out for Nick to finally return them. Suddenly overcome with remorse, he quickly manages to rescue T-Paul from his precarious predicament and then catches up to Rig and Charlie. Nick attempts to shoots the gun out of Rig's right hand and they leave them tied up in an alley for the police. Nick insists on returning the money back to the safe, assuring T-Paul that nobody will bother to look at the tapes unless something is missing or damaged. T-Paul, who had planned on using the money to move his family out of their troubled neighborhood, gets into a fight with Nick and ends their partnership. T-Paul decides to walk home, while Nick drives home and tells Ann what happened to him.

Returning to his job, Nick is told Philip is reviewing the security tapes to investigate a burglar who vandalized his fertility statue. Nick races to his boss' office but he is too late to stop them, only to discover that the tape was recorded over right before the "burglar" removed his mask, and that a man identifying himself as an electrician was allowed into the building earlier in the day.

Nick goes to see T-Paul and confirms T-Paul recorded over the tape, saving Nick from losing the existence he himself was ironically trying to escape. In return, Nick convinced Philip to hire an electrician responsible for the security system that was so easily bypassed and offers T-Paul the job, which he happily accepts.

Cast

Critical reception

Nothing to Lose was met with negative reviews from professional critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 28% of the critics has given the film a positive review based on 25 reviews (7 "Fresh", 18 "Rotten") with an average rating of 5.1/10. Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star gave the film a positive review and stated, "Tim Robbins' understated depression and Martin Lawrence's hyperactive ranting are the perfectly hilarious foil for one another."

Box office

The film made its debut at #4 at the North American box office, and made $11,617,767 on its opening weekend in 1,862 theaters. Its widest release was 1,888 theaters. During its run, the film made a domestic total of $44,480,039. Its production budget was $25 million.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on July 1, 1997 by Tommy Boy Records. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and was certified gold on September 3, 1997.