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Small Time Crooks

Small Time Crooks

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $13.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hilarious! Witty!
Review: This movie very funny, although it got 3 stars because it is clear that the movie completely changes from the first half-hour.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fortune cookies....
Review: If you're a Woody Allen fan, you probably won't be disappointed in SMALL TIME CROOKS. The film is a departure from some of his more recent work and more like his earlier film TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN with Louise Lasseter. His existential tone is not obvious, though not completely missing either.

SMALL TIME CROOKS is downright slapstick early on, and then the film takes a subtle and serious twist. In some places I laughed so hard I dampened my drawers--and believe me some of these folks wear drawers while others are supposedly top drawer. In a sense the film is a spoof on class snobbery.

Whether she is making dough or not, the clothing the fabulous Frenchie (Tracy Ullman) wears is vintage. Frenchie began her career as a topless go-go girl in New Jersey, where Woody's character met her when he was working as a numbers runner. The lime-green stretch pants she sports while preparing his sausage-meatball meals served with a plate stacked high with white Wonder bread leave nothing to the imagination.

Elaine Stritich and Elaine May and the perennial George Grizzard are all aging members of the NYC Manhattan upper crust--all of whom take an interest in the new cookie-fortune magnate Frenchie because they're after her dough for "charitable" purposes.

Hugh Grant seems to have made the transition from roles portraying dignified innocents to roles where he maintains his some of his dignity. I used to like Grant in romantic leads like Chopinski in IMPROMTU before the LA fiasco. I wondered what he would do for a living after his encounter with Ms. Brown, not because I was sitting in moral judgment but because it was hard to believe he was innocent any longer.

Grant is quite good in SMALL TIME CROOKS in which he plays a disengenious antique dealer/wine expert/former vineyard owner who has among other things spent time in a Buddist monastery in Japan. As a Professor Higgins to the newly rich Frenchie/Frances he is a pip.

As he often does, Woody wrote/directed/produced the film and played the lead. Who would have thought he could keep up!! Yet, here he is, the aging film star who doesn't look like Cary Grant. Woody's films appeal to a select group of us, many of whom probably look like aging Diane Keatons and Alan Aldas and some of whom have spent time in Buddist temples.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Small Time Results !
Review: Even the genius of Woody Allen couldn't save this weak story and even weaker cast. Anyone who has the slighest dislike for Hugh Grant will hate him at the end of this film in which he play his usual whining pompas Englishman. Just when this film is starting to find it's feet it has a stupid twist that would work if it was the slighest bit funny - it's not. In all, Woody is just some amazingly talented and his body old work is great enough to let this one die a quiet death. My advice, wait until this DVD is reduced in price or buy it at auction so you won't feel like you've done your money !

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WARNING: LIKE ANTS EATING YOUR EYES? WATCH THIS>
Review: This movie, out of the many movies that I've seen, is by far the worst movie of all time. Allen's acting is atrocious; his directing is primitive; and his script is severely antiquated. If not for Allen's unrealistic motions, jagged, unintelligable speech, direct, ridiculous stares into the camera, and unbelievably superficial writing/directing/acting, the movie may have been worth letting my dog play with it. Allen's apparent ineptness for the big screen amazes me as to why he's been held at such a high level. I'm thankful that modern, developed people will eventually control the movie industry and that outright stupidity, such as this movie, will no longer prey on the innocent customers of movie entertainment. Blair Witch was bad, but this movie was down right horrible. Rating: If you want a reason to hate the movie industry, watch Allen's movie; else, save yourself the trouble of having to flog yourself for sitting in front of such atrocity for an extended period of time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sweet but no as sweet as cookies !
Review: It was good but I have seen better actors better cartoons and also I have seen Woody Allen act better . I LIKED IT BUT NOT MAJOR. SO I GUESS I LIKED IT SO-SO.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A small time hit
Review: I am a huge fan of Woody Allen's works, and a few of his films have come to be on my list of top-ten favorite films. "Manhattan", "Annie Hall", and "Interiors", to name a few. I guess Allen had everything going for him in the seventies-after that decade, everything went downhill. I was unbelievably disappointed with "Small Time Crooks". I thought it would be hilarious. It was, before the one-year jump. Afterwards, everything became incredibly insipid. Because the DVDs were all taken, I was resorted to renting the VHS tape. I was lucky, in a way, because I could stop the movie and take it out to see how much more I had to watch. I have always enjoyed Allen's self-deprecating whining, but I found his character, Ray, hugely annoying. Ray's whining just grated on my nerves. This movie is just a mess. The plot is structureless, the characters prove to be more dimwitted than Frenchy's cousin, May, which I actually found to be the smartest one. Most of all what's got me steamed is that it has no moral at all. I LOVE movies with serious and funny morals. "Manhattan", "Annie Hall", and "Interiors" proved to have heartbreaking, beautiful morals. This particular movie is the very opposite! You can't relate to any of the characters. The plot is scattered. The dialogue proves to be annoying while trying to be funny. Watch this movie only if you're vastly bored, but that might be a bad idea, since it would make you even more bored! You've been warned!! You want wonderful, spellbinding, vivid Woody Allen? Get "Manhattan", "Annie Hall", "Interiors", and "Sleeper" that turned out to be wonderful pieces of art!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: laugh out louder!
Review: This movie made me laugh out loud. more in the beginning than the end but still. Woody Allen really is a comedy genius. he and tracy ullman really clicked as a pair. This movie definetly is worth the time and I wouldn't mind adding it to my collection either.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Money changes things, but Woody's constant
Review: Woody and Tracy are great in this movie. Well, they are poor, they loved each other, basically what this movie's about. Woody always have plans to get rich, but Tracy would always shoot them down. The movie started with Woody gathering a few friends to dig a tunnel to the near by bank from a shop they rented. Tracy makes her famous cookies as a cover. Well, the small time crooks dug, Tracy's cookie business took off... They turned rich over night. Tracy wanted to be among the elites, while Woody still favors the way they used to live... But things didn't turned out as Tracy would hope... And soon, Tracy realized money changed, but Woody is always true.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very funny for young and old
Review: This movie is a classic woody allen film about a bumbling small time crook, his wife and his friends when the movie starts out he has this idea how to rob a bank by digging under a cookie shop over to the bank well the cookies make more sucess then the original plan and one funny thing leads to another and they turn into billionairs. a great movie no bad scenes a very well done movie to add to tons of well done movies by woody allen a must see. you can watch it on your new PS2 if you like!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One "Sweet" Movie
Review: I am not a big fan of Woody Allen, but this movie definately shows that he is one of the funniest men involved with the "silver screen." Small Time Crooks is one hilarious film.

The plot line is quite simple. Allen plays an ex-con named Ray who, along with his buddies, sets up to tunnel underground and rob a bank. His wife, Frenchy, sets up a cookie shop as the cover, but when the robbery attempt is spoiled, the cookie business takes off.

Woody Allen brought together an amazing cast including Jon Lovitz who was absolutely perfect for his role, Michael Rappaport, and Hugh Grant. Allen was perfect in the movie, as his one-liners are hysterical and pretty well-timed. Tracy Ullman plays his wife, and is the perfect compliment to him. However, Elaine May clearly stole the show, as the dim-witted cousin, May. She was simply fantastic.

The film was quite enjoyable, as it was a well-written story. The acting was superb, and the humor was incredibly witty, and seemed to allow the movie to flow rather well. This film will "steal" your attention.


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