It seems churlish to kick Michael J. Fox when he's already down after his star turn in the cloying Life With Mikey. His dramatic role in Casualties of War proved he could do more than trade on the brash charm that made him a star in Back to the Future. But his fans weren't buying, so Hollywood keeps chasing Fox into warm and fuzzy corners.

For Love or Money stars Fox as Doug Ireland, a brash — what else? — concierge for a posh Manhattan hotel. The idea for the movie came from producer Brian Grazer, and it's a promising one, recalling Billy Wilder's darkly comic The Apartment. For guests at the Bradbury, Doug procures everything from showgirls to tickets for the shows they're in. He goes along when Hanover (Anthony Higgins), a married entrepreneur, asks him to baby-sit his young mistress, Andy (Gabrielle Anwar). Doug figures Hanover will help him buy his own hotel, but he doesn't figure on falling for Andy — or finding his conscience.

It took four screenwriters to turn a potent premise into mush. There's some compensation in a solid supporting cast, especially Fyvush Finkel of TV's Picket Fences as the world's oldest bellboy. But director Barry Sonnenfeld shows little of the wicked spirit he brought to The Addams Family.

As lovers, Fox and Anwar strike few romantic sparks; she's rather wan compared with her tango turn with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. And there's a desperation to the jokes that's exhausting. Fox is so puppy-dog eager to please he would probably hump your leg. But his one-note performance, like this misfire of a movie, has no bite.

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."