Small Time Crooks

Rating:
Summary: The Honeymooners a la Woody Allen ...
Review: This movie bears repeated viewing. It really only gets better. Tracey Ullman, Elaine May et. al. all played their cooky parts hilariously. The main thing I love about Woody is he lets people do their characters so realistically, and allows lower-key performances that are more true to life. A couple of the crew (who I've seen before in his films, just can't remember their names) are just brilliant stupid crooks -- people I can believe I'd have met (at least, in NYC) before. And as the wimpy mastermind of the scam, Woody plays his own ridiculous but endearing character well.

Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I've seen nearly all of Woody Allen's films & consider myself a huge fan, but this was a huge letdown....even by the standards of lightweight comedy it's disappointing. Except for a couple of scattered scenes, nothing here displays Woody's typical wit and insightfulness. The characters are cartoonish and unlikable, and the production is flashy and garish. Even comparing Small Time Crooks to other recent films of Allen's (let alone his masterpieces of the 70s & 80s...you know which ones), there's none of the fun found in Bullets over Broadway and Mighty Aphrodite, the dark wit found in Deconstructing Harry, or the quiet soulfulness of Sweet & Lowdown. If you must see this one, rent it--definitely not one to buy.

Rating:
Summary: It Took Four Viewings But I Like It!
Review: The first time I saw this, I hated it, which is odd for me and a Woody Allen film. I think the reason is the somewhat unexpected turn the film takes when Woody and the gang are caught by the cop. It seems I had created my own expectation about where the film was going and didn't give it a chance after that.
I am glad to report after four viewings I really like this little farce. Woody is great as always-he plays a "small time crook" who is always looking for a big score but doesn't have the brains to pull it off. Tracey Ullman is delightful as Allen's wife and reluctant partner in crime. The gals will love Hugh Grant as a sophisticated but unscrupulous art dealer and Elaine May is excellent as Ullman's dim-witted cousin.
This DVD comes with all the features we have come to expect from Woody-none! Well, there are production notes and cast bios and a trailer but this is single sided single layer all the way.
Summing up, this won't go down in history as one of Woody's best, but it is still worth getting for fans like myself.

Rating:
Summary: like old allen, just not as funny
Review: Small Time Crooks begins with a funny enough premise: buy a cookie shop in order to dig a hole through the basement to rob a bank; botch the bank job, strike it rich with the cookies. The opening scenes are funny, the characters successfully sketched, and Allen's typical man-on-the-edge-paranoia, displayed in humorous neurotic style. But, later in the movie, when the novelties of Allen and Ullman's character's wear off, when all of the jokes in the previews have been unearthed, the movie begins to dull down. It then becomes fairly unfunny, and the examination of their marriage as it falls apart isn't terribly interesting. I was pleased to see Allen returning to an older formula: his caper style films as opposed to the terrible, misogynist crap he's been doling out of late. Unfortunatly, this is one of those films that shows all of the goods in the previews, so much in fact, that if you've seen the previews, don't bother with the movie, unless you want the jokes you've already seen and heard spaced out.

Rating:
Summary: Small Time Film
Review: For a fan of Woody Allen, this is far from his best effort. But, if you are not normally a fan, this might be one to check out. It has more of a modern comedy sensibility about it, even as it attempts to reach back to an earlier type of Allen work. The performances while not phoned in are sufficient. And the screenplay itself still has those Woody-isms that we all love or hate. Once again, Woody Allen has left his film as finished, no commentary or making of material exists on the disc... Just a sufficient widescreen transfer...

Rating:
Summary: Small Time Crooks, Small Time Comedy
Review: Woody Allen is seldom bad, but even he cannot overcome a repetitive series of ethnic joke sequences and a monotonous script. At first, one is almost waiting for the burlesque drum "thump" at the end of the obvious gags, but after the third or fourth time one wonders when something new is going to happen. The plot is thin and implausible while not really being funny. The concluding half hour has a canned, almost desperate-to-finish quality. Don't buy this movie before renting it.

Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen's second-worst
Review: The first 30 minutes or so are fun. After that, "Small Time Crooks" becomes a terrible embarrassment. It does not mark a return to his early comedies; it marks the loss of all the humor and wit that has characterized his writing and filmmaking since the beginning. I am a big Woody Allen fan. I've seen every film he's directed (except "September," "Another Woman," and "Shadows and Fog") and I've enjoyed all of them but "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" (which Woody himself tried to disown almost as soon as he was done with it). "Small Time Crooks" is his worst film ever, hands down. Rather, it WAS his worst film ever, until the painful "Curse of the Jade Scorpion" came along.

Rating:
Summary: Funny but insubstantial film
Review: Another insubstantial film from the Woodman, that prompts me to wonder where he has misplaced his ambition. It's a slapsticky comedy that will remind fans of his earlier work (particularly "Sleeper", "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask", "Bananas", etc.), but whereas those films framed its comedy within a fresh and original concept, the new film plays as a broad, familiar comedy comprised of more one-liners than you can possibly keep track of. With that said, this film isn't as bad as most film critics have made it out to be. The jokes come fast and often, and they crackle for the most part. The second half of the film loses some steam but I still heard myself laughing out loud on more than several occasions. I loved the bickering between Tracy Ullman and Woody. I loved the buddies Ray brings along on his bungled caper (too bad they were given such limited screen time, especially Jon Lovitz). I loved the recurring joke of Ray trying to dress like a rich man. And Elaine May lights up every scene like Samantha Morton did in "Sweet and Lowdown".

Rating:
Summary: A good movie, but..
Review: I love Woody Allen. This movie was a typical Woody Allen movie. I thought the movie was good, but predictable and I thought Woody Allen fit the part perfectly. I do, however, think the movie would have been better if Woody Allen was younger or his castmates were older. I'm not saying I hated the movie or saying that people shouldn't see it, if they're fans of Woody Allen, they should. I'm just saying that I think more could have done with the plot than was done.

Rating:
Summary: so refreshing
Review: Watch this movie, if only to see Woody Allen's character threatening to punch his wife. Priceless.