Small Time Crooks

Rating:
Summary: SMALL TIME CROOKS is an ironic Comedy, Funny and Well Acted
Review: SMALL TIME CROOKS is another four or four and a half film that I was lenient on and gave it a five. It is an entertaining and extremely satisfying comedy that I love because of it's small, but unusually captivating ironic twist. Tracy Ullman plays Frenchie, the wife of Woody Allen who is planning a bank robbery with friends by tunneling up to the bank in the basement of a ex-pizza hut. As a cover, Ullman takes up a cookie baking business up in the front. While the bank robbery plot is getting more and more complicated, Frenchie's business begins to grow... It is a funny movie with some hilarious lines and scenes like the fake news documentary on "Sunset", the company name. It is funny, involving, and the characters are, if not well-"developed", well-"characterized". The acting is great, especially from Ullman and May, Ullman's slow cousin.

Rating:
Summary: A Return To The Earlier, Funny Style.
Review: Allen takes a refreshing break from his recent "Sour'n'Dour" sensibilities and returns to an old-fashioned Woodman goof. Woody's befuddled wannabe grand larcenist and his dopey gang of lovable morons(particularly Jon Lovitz) provide plenty of belly laughs for the first third of the film; the story takes an unexpected 180 degree turn that initially throws off the established comic rhythm but eventually wins you over.Allen displays his usual stuntcasting prowess by tossing a couple of Brits into the mix-Hugh Grant typecast as a stuffy English type and the boundlessly versatile Tracey Ullman as Woody's very New Yawkish wife. The real casting coup here was luring national comic treasure Elaine May out of the director's seat and back in front of the camera for a rare acting appearance--she still possesses the chops to crack me up with just a "look" or a subtle inflection. Not Classic Woody, but an encouraging return to form and a worthwhile entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and engaging, if not Woody's best
Review: This comedy caper is by no means among Woody Allen's best, nor the most consistently funny, but it nevertheless entertains. Allen and Ullmann manage to make the central characters warm enough to engage our affections.

Often it is said that Woody cannot do physical comedy, but there are some delightfully amusing moments herein that belie such a criticism, such as Woody's bungled attempts to sneak upstairs at a party to commit a robbery without being noticed.

Rating:
Summary: COMEDY WITH A WISE PREMISE: MONEY CAN ONLY GO SO FAR
Review: Though essentially a time-marking throwaway by writer/director Woody Allen, "Small Time Crooks" provides so many gems of shining performances that one can overlook the film's derivative plotting and overall lack of comic drive.

In this film, Allen more or less abandons his customary obsession with big city neuroses and middle-aged angst in favor of a more straightforward, plot-driven comedy, paying homage in its patchwork and eclectic story to any number of earlier well-known theatrical and cinematic works.

The somewhat slapstick theme revolves around a hapless couple that accidentally creates a mega-corporation out of a cookie store that is intended to be a front for a bank robbery. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and with one outrageous skit after another, Allen examines the difference between class and wealth, as Ray and Frenchy try to retro-fit into high society.

The highlight of the film comes in the form of a brilliantly satiric pseudo-60 Minutes report in which Steve Kroft himself chronicles the meteoric rise that this ragtag collection of accidental entrepreneurs takes from obscure small business owners to multi-million dollar corporate giants â€" a report that pokes affectionate fun at the clichéd rags-to-riches theme so essential to the beloved concept of the "American Dream."

Special note must be made of some of the actors, prime among them Ullman and the always brilliant Elaine May who, as Frenchy's adenoidal, utterly befuddled and endearingly obtuse cousin, returns to her "A New Leaf" roots and provides some of the sweetest comic moments in the film. Hugh Grant is convincing in his own way, without trying too hard.

The film offers a number of dazzling performances to relish, some good situational gaffes, and a lot of time-tested worldly wisdom. Overall not a bad package. Recommended rental.

Rating:
Summary: Woody Rips Off Car 54
Review: Why?

Why did you do it, Woody? Sure, the premise of Small Time Crooks was interesting - but then I felt the same way when I saw it the FIRST time on television - on Car 54, Where Are You? back in the 1950s! Created by Nat Hiken (who also wrote many episodes), that classic cop situation comedy had many very funny plots.

Plots that included the one about the small band of crooks, three male and one female, that open a business next to a New York bank in order to break into the vault next door. But business gets too good, proving to be a huge distraction to the original plan of emptying the bank of its big bucks, and hilarity ensues.

Sound familiar? It should - since Woody obviously lifted that entire scenario in order to make his far-inferior STC film! At first I thought maybe he wrote the original Car 54 script in question, and can therefore do whatever he wants to with his own property. But I checked it out, and no, he did not write that Car 54 script.

(BTW, Tracey Ullman is also particularly terrible in this - she's a Brit playing an Italian who's named Frenchy - try figuring out THAT cultural mess!)

So what happened Woody? Was the white paper in your typewriter that blank? Was your writers' block that insurmountable? Sure, one can always say it's not exactly script-stealing as long as a writer at least slightly changes a plot twist or a line of dialogue here or there, but c'mon, Woody, who did you think you'd fool?

You're not known as a hack writer - you were once considered to be one of the premier comedy talents of the movies, not just in acting but in writing too!

So again, we must all ask, Woody... why?

Rating:
Summary: Woody's best in a long time
Review: A group of incompetent crooks fail miserably at their latest scheme, but unintentionally find fabulous success in a totally different venture, which leads to its own complications.

Not since the late 80s with Crimes and Misdemeanors has Allen created such a tightly-crafted and totally natural film. The jump cutting is gone, the shaky camera is nowhere to be seen, the obscure artistic allusions completely absent. Instead, Allen packs this little gem with one of the best ensemble casts he's had in years, including the amazingly-talented Tracey Ullman (who seems to have been made to play opposite Woody), the endearingly idiosyncratic Elaine May (another Allen first) and the sophisticated straight foil Hugh Grant.

Critics heralding the return of the early and funny Allen fail to notice that this isn't exactly a nostalgic trip through the world of Bananas or Love and Death. On the contrary, patches of warmth and sweetness are all over the place -- sure there are more sight gags here than in his last five films combined, but sympathetic and believable characterization is also here in buckets. Think of it as a funnier, less earnest Hannah and Her Sisters, sure to become one of its director's most beloved films in years to come. And finally there is some justice in the world, for not only is this his best film in a decade, it's also his most financially successful in years.

Rating:
Summary: Two movies from Woody Allen
Review: There are two stories in one. The first one is more hilarious, with a goofy Lovitz, a teenager-type Rappaport, and Woody, who thinks he's the brain, but--like in "Take the Money and Run"--he's very incompetent. As funny as their situation is though, Ullman matches all three of them with a fascinating New York accent (I'm always amazed wht English people change their already strange accents) and rapid one-liners that had the audience laughing.

In the second part, the movie goes back to Allen's usual boy-nearly-loses-girl as Ullman and Allen struggle as nouveau-riche white trash trying to mix with the blue-blooded elite. There is somewhat of a message that being rich is worhtless unless you can somehow keep the life and loves you had before. Less funny than the first part (in no small part because we lose the Marx Brothers: Allen, Lovitz, and Rappaport), but it still produces laughter. Ullman becomes less funny, but even more sympathetic. Elaine May is funny as the slow but perceptive friend.

This movie can be another Woody Allen classic. What's great about it for me is that it's not only funny, but it's not so vulgar and rife with sex jokes that I would let children and my parents watch it. It's a simple story, reminding me of the Marx Brothers in "Go West." Very simple and pleasantly funny.

Though you might want to keep a lustful eye out for 1) Tracy Ullman's VPL in the first half and 2)During the final party scenes, Elaine May's breasts are pouring out of her dress, heaving while Allen tries to rob the safe and shown from above when the two leave.

Rating:
Summary: COMEDY WITH A WISE PREMISE: MONEY CAN ONLY GO SO FAR
Review: Though essentially a time-marking throwaway by writer/director Woody Allen, "Small Time Crooks" provides so many gems of shining performances that one can overlook the film's derivative plotting and overall lack of comic drive.

In this film, Allen more or less abandons his customary obsession with big city neuroses and middle-aged angst in favor of a more straightforward, plot-driven comedy, paying homage in its patchwork and eclectic story to any number of earlier well-known theatrical and cinematic works.

The somewhat slapstick theme revolves around a hapless couple that accidentally creates a mega-corporation out of a cookie store that is intended to be a front for a bank robbery. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and with one outrageous skit after another, Allen examines the difference between class and wealth, as Ray and Frenchy try to retro-fit into high society.

The highlight of the film comes in the form of a brilliantly satiric pseudo-60 Minutes report in which Steve Kroft himself chronicles the meteoric rise that this ragtag collection of accidental entrepreneurs takes from obscure small business owners to multi-million dollar corporate giants â€" a report that pokes affectionate fun at the clichéd rags-to-riches theme so essential to the beloved concept of the "American Dream."

Special note must be made of some of the actors, prime among them Ullman and the always brilliant Elaine May who, as Frenchy's adenoidal, utterly befuddled and endearingly obtuse cousin, returns to her "A New Leaf" roots and provides some of the sweetest comic moments in the film. Hugh Grant is convincing in his own way, without trying too hard.

The film offers a number of dazzling performances to relish, some good situational gaffes, and a lot of time-tested worldly wisdom. Overall not a bad package. Recommended rental.

Rating:
Summary: A hidden originality
Review: Critics hated because they were payng too much attetion to the naive comic side of this picture. In fact this is the fist time that I saw put in a film, a debate about "what is to be educated and what is to be wise", which is the real question in the plot. This question in shown throug the caracters that want to buy culture, by simple vanity or social acceptance and those who are supposebly very polite and educated, but indeed are essencially miserable ones...
And the fact that all of that is covered with such a light comedy side, keeps the plot from being boring. It's brilliant!
I recomend it for anyone who live in great citys and have attended at very instructed people's dinner partys. If you are willing to see these questions behind the comedy fog, this may be a very suggestive film to see. Try it.

PS:please forgive me for my awful english writing

Rating:
Summary: LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!
Review: I TURNED DOWN THE CHANCE OF SEEING THIS ON THE BIG SCREEN BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT LOOKED BORING. HAVING NOW SEEN IT ON VIDEO, I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG! I LOVED WOODY'S EARLY COMEDIES SUCH AS SLEEPER AND LOVE AND DEATH AND I HAD GOTTEN TIRED OF HIS RECENT MORE SERIOUS MOVIES. SMALL TIME CROOKS IS REFRESHING, FUNNY AND VERY MEMORABLE. JUST LOVE THE CAST, THE STORY, THE MANY UNEXPECTED PLOT-TWISTS, AND THE SETS ARE TERRIFIC TOO. ALSO LOVE THE TACKY ART AND DECOR FAVOURED BY FRENCHY AND RAY IN HIS CHEESY WHITE SUITS IS A CRACK-UP. TRACY ULLMAN IS OH SO PERFECTLY CAST, AND I JUST LURVE THE CHEMISTY THAT BUBBLES BETWEEN HER AND DAVID, THE SNOBBY ART CRITIC, AS WELL AS THE ACIDIC RELATIONSHIP THAT BLOSSOMS BETWEEN RAY AND MAE (POSSIBLY MAE'S PERFORMANCE IS THE MOST OUTSTANDING ONE IN THE WHOLE FILM). ALL IN ALL A VERY ENJOYABLE ROMP, A VISUAL FEAST, WITH A WITTY, HONEST AND ASCERBIC SCRIPT. IT MIGHT BE COMEDY, BUT TO ME IT IS RIGHT UP THERE WITH INTERIORS, ANNIE HALL AND CRIMES AND MISDEAMEANOURS. THANK YOU MR ALLEN, THE WORLD WOULD BE A POORER PLACE WITHOUT YOU AND YOUR INGENIUS FILMS. SEE IT!