James Marsters

We don’t expect much from an original telepic running Saturday night on the USA Network, which is what makes "Cool Money" such a nice little surprise. It’s actually pretty good as opposed to a date-night throwaway, one of those "inspired by true events" flicks that isn’t really fact-based but isn’t totally concocted, either. It stars James Marsters — who played Spike the punk-goth vampire on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and then "Angel" — as Bobby Comfort, a career thief who mines a legal loophole to get an early release from his latest prison stint. Bobby’s miserable trying to go straight at the behest of his wife (Robin Brule) and falls under the spell of a flamboyant thug named Sammy (John Cassini), who hatches a plan to knock over a bunch of opulent hotels in New York.

In tandem with an old-timer named Doc (Wayne Robson), the three of them set out on a string of heists that baffles and humiliates the cops — culminating in the largest purloining of jewels in American history. It’s all based on an actual case. But as true-crime tales go, this one has a decided droll edge. Everybody and everything are just a little bit off, leaving the audience wondering how guys who are this brazen and dysfunctional can pull off robberies of such outrageous hubris in the heart of a major metropolis.

Marsters gives a believable performance as an intense, tortured soul, while Cassini proves an entertainingly colorful partner. Almost stealing the film is Jason Schombing as Marsters’ second cousin once removed (or something like that), a schnook who has always wanted to be a player but seems destined to a lifetime of loserdom. Also making an appearance is Margot Kidder as a hot mama and decidedly loose cannon named Peggy. But in the case of "Cool Money," scripted with panache by Shelley Evans, the whole winds up being greater than the sum of its parts. It’s a movie that aspires only to be entertaining and winds up delivering nicely. A great film? No. But not a terrible way to spend Saturday night, either.