Rating: 
Summary: Woody at his best
Review: Once again Woody Allen will make you crack up. Unlike in his past, more 'cute & touching' films, this one is pure comedy. You'll find an older looking yet not less funnier acting Woody Allen. If you are a fan, you will only love this movie. It's a fairy tail that presents us with some essentials of our lives, all put together... a little like a cookie ! Enjoy !
Rating: 
Summary: Small Time Problem...I Didn't Like It Very Much.
Review: Ray Winkler is a "small time crook" with big dreams. Ray recruits his wife and some old bumblers to open a cookie store next to the bank. He and his cohorts work in the basement breaking into the bank. Wealth comes from an unexpected direction, helping fufill his dreams. But there is an Ancient curse about getting everything you wish for.
Rating: 
Summary: A return to Allen's earlier style
Review: A beautifully made (if slight) film, although the script is not up to Allens's normal standard. His devotees will search the script in vain for references to Bergman, Scott Fitzgerald or Strindberg. This is aimed at a much more middlebrow audience.Having said all that I never really laughed at films like Take The Money & Run, while I did at certain sequences in this. The first third concerning the abortive robbery is only sporadically amusing, while the remainder, when the nouveaux riches Allen and Ullman attempt to enter 'society' has some genuinely funny moments. These are usually triggered by an absurd situation or visual gag (often Allen's lurid costumes) rather than the script itself. There are a couple of good set pieces: a TV 'infomercial' (realistically shot on videotape) in which Allen and the gang describe the working of the cookie company and their crass new found wealth to a bemused TV journalist, and a black tie party hosted by Allen and Ullman in their garish apartment. A very nebulous film which runs out of steam in the final stretch, but definitely worth seeing. Excellent picture quality on DVD, and fine (mono) sound. Nice music as well.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This is actually a great comedy of woody allen. I must confess I'm a fan of his movies, but I assure this is one you should not miss. Woody plays an ex-con who decides to rob a bank. He tries to convince his wife, a manicurist, to spend their money buying an old street shop, so that he and his friends could dig a tunnel, which would supposedly lead them to a bank safety. In order to make it not suspicious, he asks her to sell cookies during the day.However, the cookies shop becomes very popular in the neighborhood and woody and his wife suddenly become noveau rich. One year later, they are living a new life style, rounded by intelectuals, artists and socialites. In an effort to acquire some culture, the couple hires Hugh Grant to teach them good social manners, and this is the moment the film becomes hilarious. Woody was perfect, as always, playing a rude guy who'd rather watch TV eating chips than going to operas and museums. Besides woody, it's worth watching Elaine May, who plays a clueless cousin of woody's wife. I also recommend you pay attention to woody's house decoration. In the living room, he had tigers, ancient objects and even an harp! Totally awesome! This is a movie everyone should see! Inteligent and funny!
Rating:
Summary: One of Allen's well written pieces ...
Review: Woody Allen returns to his great writing roots and farcical imagination when he turns a supposedly well planned heist into comic hilarity. With a well-casted entourage and good hearted crook, Allen tells the tale of a robber with dreams of robbing big banks with low budget dynamite and a cookie store front to protect himself. This film returns to the earlier days of Allen with its punchy writing and even punchier acting, especially by Tracey Ullman who feigns a materialistic housewife of an ex-con very well. Well paced, with warm laughs and an even warmer ending...Better than some of his recent works: Celebrity, Everybody says I love you...
Rating:
Summary: A Great Great Great Comedy
Review: »Small Time Crooks« is not only for Woody Allen admirers! It's not only one of the funniest films Allen has ever made, it's also the best film he's made in years! It's pure comedy. With Allen Himself playing an unusually un-intellectual part, superbly supported by a.o. Tracy Ullman as his wife. Somehow, Allen manages to make film joke klichés funnier than ever. He turns slapstick-like gags into scenes that are actually funny instead of dumb. And this without exaggerating his ever-present philosophical connotations. So »Small Time Crooks« is not only for Woody Allen admirers!
Rating:
Summary: Why do peope say it's bad?
Review: This film kicked off my Woody Allen-mania; I've seen a bunch of films since Small Time Crooks now, and have got hooked on them. I think this picture actually has something more to it than the lauded classics, such as Manhattan or Annie Hall, namely action. There's stuff going on, sometimes slipping into a slapstick-y mode, yet keeping the uniqueness that only Woody can provide. So, only if you're a die-hard Woody fan with sky-high standards and immutable principles, you're likely to hate it; otherwise, for all you lay people out there, it's a fun piece to watch. As has been noted in other reviews, there is an all-star supporting cast that also creates a link between Woody-esque esoterism and the mainstream, making it even more digestible for the man in the street. What concerns the story, there is an uncanny similarity between the presentation of Small Time Crooks and Take the Money and Run, i.e. the documentary-style interludes. But that's kind of cool and innovative. I do recommend the film and it's not bad at all, as I've heard from some.
Rating:
Summary: Small time crooks big time fun
Review: Saw this movie at the theater. Can't wait for it to be released on DVD. Great performance by everyone. A fun movie for all. Plot full of twists. Will make you laugh.
Rating:
Summary: A small little comedy
Review: Woody Allen stars as an ex-con dishwasher who decides he wants to rob a bank. To rob a bank he first has to get a "team" together. His wife Frenchy (Ullman) does not totally agree. But in the end she comes to her senses and lets him rob the bank. Along the ride comes Jon Lovitz as a man who loves fire and two other bumbling crooks. As a front to rob the bank they use a cookie shop called Sunset Cookies ran by Ullman. Lovitz, Allen, and the other crooks tunnel under the cookie shop to get into the bank. Well, it doesn't work out, they get caught. But the policeman who catches them has a deal. He won't tell anyone...if he can go into the Cookie business with them, which is doing VERY well. Skip to a year later where Ullman, Allen, Lovitz, Ullman's stupid cousin Elaine May and the rest of the gang has an empire known as SUNSET COOKIES. They have millions and millions of dollars. But Ullman and Allen are not refined. So Ullman gets a refined crook (Hugh Grant) to make thema more sociably acceptable. Of course they don't know this. So that's pretty much the story line. It is funny without having any sex or curse words. Woody Allen gets on my nerves, gave me a headache almost, same with Tracey Ullman. But Jon Lovitz and Elaine May make up for their annoyingness. I only wish Lovitz was in it more. He is so hilarious. Good, clean comedy.
Rating:
Summary: "SMALL TIME CROOKS" IS NOT SMALL ON LAUGHS!
Review: When I first heard about this film I was was immediately drawn back to Allen's first film "Take The Money And Run"(Which remains to this day my favorite Allen picture). In that film Allen also plays a crooks who can't do anything right. Not even write a hold up note! But even though the material seemed familar to me I still wanted to see this movie. What can I say I'm a Woody Allen devotee. And fans of Allen won't be let down. The movie is filled with laughs. But surprisingly enough it's not Allen who delivers all the laughs. In my own opinion I'd have to say Elaine May was one of the high points of this film! Tracey Ullman is very good too. This film is unlike the films Woody has made recently such as "Celebrity". Even though if you did or didn't like "Celebrity" you have to admit it was something you would expect from Allen. But this film is different. I'm willing to bet it's not what a lot of people are expecting! It's not one of those's "annoying,typical" Allen pictures. As some people call it. I had a hugh grin on my face watching Allen deliver his one liners and watching him go through his slap stick. And the end is taken right from the "Honeymooners". Allen looks at Ullman,tells her he's sorry(for what I'm not going to say)and then says..."baby...your the greatest." A chessy ending? maybe. A little corny? probably. A good movie? Definately!
| 
