Drowning Mona

Drowning Mona is a comedy mystery set in the small town of Verplanck, New York. When Mona Dearly dies after driving her car into the river, police chief Wyatt Rash suspects it was not an accident. Mona was widely disliked, and nearly everyone in town had a reason to wish her gone, from her family to a local waitress involved with her husband. The case grows complicated for Wyatt when he learns his own daughter is engaged to one of the main suspects.

The film was directed by Nick Gomez, marking a shift into broader comedy after his earlier independent work, with a screenplay by Peter Steinfeld. Danny DeVito plays Wyatt Rash, while Bette Midler takes the role of the unpopular Mona. Neve Campbell appears as Ellen Rash, Jamie Lee Curtis as Rona Mace, and Casey Affleck and William Fichtner round out the principal cast. The production had a modest budget of 6 million dollars and took in about 15 million worldwide.

On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 5.7 from roughly 16,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5.5 from fewer than 200 votes. A critics' rating of 4.5 from 76 reviews places it below the audience scores. The film runs 96 minutes and was released in March 2000.