Good luck's not all good in witty 'Common Wealth'

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Director and co-writer Alex de la Iglesia's Common Wealth (aka "La Comunidad") is something of a darker-hued update of such literally killer vintage British comedies as "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and the recently remade "The Ladykillers." New from Ventura Distribution's Cinema Latino line (venturadistribution.com, $19.99), it represents a deft combo of jaundiced wit and twisted suspense. It's our ?

DVD pick of the week

Frequent Pedro Almodovar diva Carmen Maura (late of "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown") plays Julia, a Madrid real-estate agent who lucks into a huge stash of cash hidden in a locked apartment with a long-deceased tenant.

As it develops, Julia's find is not so secret as she'd hoped: The building's avaricious residents are well aware of the money's existence and Julia's discovery of the hitherto elusive treasure.

Will our resourceful heroine live long enough to escape the building and enjoy her ill-gotten gains?

Mr. de la Iglesia, who had earlier impressed audiences with his tongue-in-cheek 1995 chiller "Day of the Beast" and his equally offbeat 1997 English-language kidnap caper "Dance With the Devil" (starring Javier Bardem, Rosie Perez and James Gandolfini), here fashions a fun, frantic fable about the self-destructive power of all-consuming greed.

The building's crew of dangerous eccentrics, brought to vivid life by an able supporting cast, recalls Roman Polanski's 1977 paranoia parable "The Tenant," but the show ultimately belongs to the ever-capable Miss Maura and her wide-reaching range of comic skills.

Extras include an entertaining "making-of" featurette, deleted scenes, Mr. de la Iglesia's short film "Killer Mirindas" and a photo gallery. The disc also offers Castilian- and Spanish-language options, along with English subtitles.

Gleefully sardonic but never mean-spirited, "Common Wealth" arrives as a most welcome digital bargain.

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