Small Time Crooks

"Small Time Crooks" is the latest movie from Woody Allen, and it will likely be seen by the same people who go see all of his other movie (myself included) but will likely not branch out far from there. It's funny, and Allen fans will enjoy it, but it's certainly not an outstanding comedy.

Allen plays Ray, a schlub living in New York who concocts a crazy scene to rob a bank. It involves a cookie store, a tunnel, and lots of drilling. It also stirs up one of the two out-and-out hilarious sequences in the movie.

After the digging sequence, the film takes an unexpected turn (which I will let you discover for yourself), and the section immediately following the "One Year Later" card is the best of the film. Sadly, the brilliant media satire and perfect lines are not repeated again in the film. for the remaining hour.

A lot of people have commented how this is Woody getting back to his roots. Certainly the film starts off like a lot of his early works, and the premise certainly shares a good deal with Take the Money and Run, but I would not put Small Time Crooks on the same level as that film, one of my favorite comedies. While it's certainly a lighter film than his later works, Allen just doesn't have the same bizarre gags and total disregard for reality that the early works had. That insane-genius-laughing-at-us-all energy is missing.

Still, the film looks great and the cast is especially good. I'm sorry we didn't get to see more of Michael Rappaport and John Lovitz, who sadly only appear in the first portion of the film.

Again, the movie isn't bad, it's just no Take the Money and Run. Recommended for Woody fans, but I wouldn't say expect the old master here, rather expect an older master doing his best to relive those early greats.

I would have never expected a movie like "Small Time Crooks", but one would have to imagine that it could only come from Woody Allen. He plays loser Ray Winkler, who plans to pull off a big heist. But of course, he needs a cover. So, his wife Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) opens a cookie shop above the tunnel that Ray is digging, and lo and behold, the cookie shop is a smash hit, and they never pull off the heist! A year later, Ray and Frenchy are fabulously wealthy, to the point where "60 Minutes" reporter Steve Krofft interviews them. But this all starts exposing the problems in their lives. Maybe crime would have paid after all! Above all, this movie shows that Woody Allen does best when just going for straight comedy. I would say that this was his funniest movie since "Mighty Aphrodite". Also starring are Elaine May, Jon Lovitz and Hugh Grant. You're sure to like it.

Like Mighty Aphrodite and Manhattan Murder Mystery, Small Time Crooks is the kind of movie Woody Allen would have made lots more of if he hadn't, in the post Annie Hall 1970s, started thinking of himself primarily as film auteur, rather than comedian. I count myself among those who are very glad he made the detour into Art that produced such original and challenging films as Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives, and Deconstructing Harry. Small Time Crooks has a much lower level of ambition. Still, like most people in the audience at the showing I attended, I found much in it very amusing.

The film's comic plot starts out like Take the Money and Run revisited, but then takes a number of surprising turns. Along the way, Tracy Ullman, Elaine Stritch, and - especially - Elaine May all give scene-stealing performances. Early Woody one-liners and sight gags sparkle through the script (along with, unfortunately, a higher frequency of duds and chestnuts than in early Woody). Also adding an interesting dimension to the comedy is the influence of The Honeymooners on the relationship between Ray and Frenchie Winkler (Woody and Tracy) and on the film's fish-out-of-water class-based situation comedy. Woody has often professed his admiration for The Honeymooners, but this is the first film where he seems to have consciously reached for similar themes and effects.

On the down side, some of the plot twists seem downright arbitrary and amateurish, especially those involving Frenchie's comeuppance. Inadequate comic use is made of Ray's gang of losers (Jon Lovitz has one good line and too little screen time). And Hugh Grant as a Bluebeard wannabe is too much to ask of any audience. As to Woody himself .... what can you say? It's painful to watch his late career hardening of the comic arteries into stiff, unintentional self-parody. Let's hope the next Allen movie marks a return to high directorial ambition and low (as in "no") acting profile.

This movie is one of those rare gems. A movie with great, seamless performances, a solid story, and a hysterical script. This is one of those movies that you literally need to rush to the video store to rent.

Elaine May is one the most unrelentingly hilarious woman that is so underrated that it should be a crime. The woman is the definition of FABULOUS.

Tracey Ullman is a goddess. She could read a phone book and make it funny. Thats how good she is!

A MUST see! Rush to the store!

SMALL TIME CROOKS / (2000) ***

Woody Allen's artistic sense of humor is the perfect style of wit for the timid new comedy "Small Time Crooks." Allen wrote and directed the film, which is pure Allen. This amusing filmmaker brings a focused sensation of clumsiness and silliness to the various ensemble of characters; this movie is classy, sharp, and funny.

Woody Allen stars as an ex-con named Ray Winkler, currently employed as a local dishwasher. He is the kind of person who comes up with maniac ideas he explains as beneficial, but they end up causing more grief than gratitude. His mangy wife Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) is sick of her loser lifestyle, so when Ray proposes to burglarize a nearby bank with his old buddies, including Denny (Michael Rapaport), Tommy (Tony Darrow), and Benny (Jon Lovitz), she reluctantly agrees.

Ray comes up with a scheme that consists of renting a storefront next to the bank in order to tunnel a passage way into their destination. To avoid suspicion, Frenchy and her cousin May (Elaine May) open a bakery offering cookies as the four criminals screw everything up in the basement. The cookie sales unexpectedly become a massive achievement, leading to the characters opening up a corporation that makes them rich.

The film's setup introduces the main characters with intelligent humor and riffraff detail. We learn they are unintelligent, desperate, and deprived nobodies living in unmistakable poverty without purpose or hope of a decent future. Also decently developed is the story, with a clear, stable first act and early laughs to capture the audience's attention from the start. This is the kind of movie that relies on situations to pull its characters through the story, and Allen gives the script fresh twists, active subplots, and creativity.

"Small Time Crooks" is a character movie; a study of well-acted personas given funny edge and dimension. The characters are dazzlingly portrayed by some of the most clever names in Hollywood. Woody Allen rehearses his basic charismatic personality that we all know and love, and brackets himself between witty dialogue and well-cast supporting actors. Tracey Ullman is perfect in a role seemingly prepared towards her performance and Hugh Grant's false charming tenderness creates a despicable image in which the audience opposes but enjoys.

The movie's story clearly exhibits the life of Ray and Frenchy, which is probably the smartest level in which it succeeds. We see gradual changes in the two as the story uses side characters as benchmarks that help to propel the plot along. There is minute tension involved with Ray and his spouse, however, although the Hugh Grant character provides a little romantic competition. If I had to change something in this movie, I would increase the level of the story's stakes and change the horridly annoying soundtrack.

Too much of this movie relies on dialogue to pull itself through story slouches; at times the plot seems to drift and the character end up explaining developments and advancements. "Small Time Crooks" does not suffer to immensely in result of this material because Woody Allen often supports his dialogue with visual story and amusing conversations that look as if especially written for each character in each scene.

"Small Time Crooks" furnishes seeking audiences with effective comedy. So often we desire for comic adventures only to find contrived and recycled humor in stale stories. This film succeeds in perspiring light-hearted humor with a surprising human dimensional touch. "Small Time Crooks" will not disappoint fans of Woody Allen's gawky sense of humor.