Drowning Mona is a 2000 American crime comedy film starring Danny DeVito as Wyatt Rash, a local police chief from Verplanck, New York, who investigates the mysterious death of Mona Dearly (Bette Midler), a spiteful, hard-drinking, loud-mouthed, abusive woman, hated by all who knew her, who drove her son's car off a cliff and drowned in a river.

Mona Dearly can't unlock her car so, as her keys fit her son's Yugo, she takes that and drives off.

Her long-suffering husband Phil and son Jeph, show no grief when learning of Mona's death, an abusive, belligerent heavy drinker, loved by none.

Ellie Rash (Wyatt's daughter) wants to celebrate as the Dearlys treated her fiancé (and Jeph's business partner) Bobby badly.

Lucinda, the local mechanic specializing in Yugos (driven by everyone in town) informs Wyatt that the car Mona was driving had been tampered with in multiple ways.

Meanwhile, Wyatt breaks into the Dearlys', finding that Mona's and Jeph's car keys had been switched.

It turns out Jeph did not help Phil when he fell into the water after he threatened to expose him, Rona, and Bobby.

Clarence was watching Phil – who had seen Bobby rig the car – tampering with it some more and then switching the keys in the house.

The critical consensus reads, "A whodunnit that stacks its list of suspects with wasted character actors, Drowning Mona is a twee farce that will prompt audiences to tune out before the mystery is solved.