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Plot:
After a run of serious-tinged comedies like Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, and Sweet and Lowdown, Woody Allen turns to pure farce with the lightweight, appealing Small Time C...( read more 
), the sunniest film Allen's made in years. Doing a 180 from his nebbishy intellectual persona, Allen plays a less-than-smart ex-con named Ray, who can't even keep a dishwasher job and is perennially supported by his wife Frenchy (Tracey Ullman). When Ray hatches a plot to lease a storefront near a bank and tunnel into the bank's vault, Frenchy is skeptical about putting their life savings behind the scheme, especially after meeting Ray's dim-bulb trio of support (Michael Rapaport, Jon Lovitz, and Tony Darrow, all sublimely ridiculous) and learning she's supposed to provide the front by opening up a cookie store. Soon enough, their get-rich-quick scheme pays off, but not the way they anticipated, and they're suddenly swimming in money and bad taste. All of Allen's farcical shenanigans are basically a setup for a look at Ray's and Frenchy's diverging paths--she wants culture and upper-class acceptance, he wants pizza in front of the TV and poker with his pals. Soon, the lowbrow Frenchy enlists a fortune-digging art broker (Hugh Grant) to make her a lady, and Allen plans a high society robbery with the help of Frenchy's dimwit cousin (Elaine May, who makes an art form of comic stupidity). It's absolutely refreshing to see Allen making a blithely happy film after wrestling with angst over the past few years; watching Allen play a dumb schlemiel is a treat that's been sorely missed. And in Ullman he's found a leading lady who can match him line for line; she wisely resists the urge to overplay Frenchy's crassness and comes up with a finely modulated characterization that makes her relationship with Ray the film's warm, heartfelt core. We'd almost forgotten Woody Allen could be this fun and goofy; it's good to see that part of him back in form. --Mark Englehart
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 5, 2008very funny movie. LOw IQ 'crooks' try to doa robbery tthat requires high IQ minds and finally are rich not this way
from newspaper DVD -
MCT:September 7, 2008Its funny and i enjoyed it but its not Woody Allen's best, even though im not really a woody allen fan myself i can say it isnt with a fair degree of certainty. Its worth a watch to pass the time on a weekend or a sick day but dont get too excited by the respectable cast and star director, its not anything that special while atleast being original and enjoyable.
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MCT:June 7, 2008A little funny film with the old and very recognizable Woody Allen style, with the same genius dialogue and comic moments.
80/100 -
MCT:April 20, 2008SOO funny! third funniest film i say. of woody. oh my Jon Lovitz.. everything about this is hysterical.
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MCT:March 9, 2008
Not much to say about it really. First Woody Allen I ever saw, and Hugh Grant´s appearence sure was a nice toch, but over all this piece was fun for the moment, but quite easily forgettable.
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MCT:February 11, 2008
So I now I've watched all the Dreamworks Woody Allen box. It was cheap at Walmart and I'm not one when it comes to economic scruples.
Small Time Crooks is a good movie. I love Woody Allen and to have another batch of films by him gets me cinematically charged. Like I stated, Small Time Crooks is a good movie. I had a fun time and I got some out loud laughs. But this is one of Woody's simply okay movies. Am I saying this because Gary likes this movie so much? Perhaps. But I didn't know that when I first watched it. Heck, I've watched it in the store twice since watching it at home. Here's most of the issue:
I doin't care for Tracey Ullman. I've never found her show funny. Even at the height of my Simpsons nerddom (back when Simpsons was considered novelty) and I'd watch The Tracey Ullman Show just to catch the two second Simpsons clip, I'd be bored to tears from that show. She's just annoying to me. What is really odd is how everyone makes her out to be this attractive dominant woman. I'll give her dominant, but that's about as far as I'll go. The rest of the movie is a silly romp. Yes, it seems like the movie is about the bank heist (which is some of my favorite stuff in the movie), but it really is about the adaptation of middle class to upper class. Woody Allen meets The Beverly Hillbillies.
I do have to give it to Woody though, for having some really great scenes in what should just be considered a ridiculous romp. I really love the character he plays. (Yes, I know he plays the same character in everything, but I don't really believe that.) His character is just dead perfect and I really think that he grounds the movie. The surrounding cast are exactly that...they just surround the main characters. Although I do have to give props to the sister character. She was fantastic, especially toward the end. Her deliveries of improvisation are just perfect.
Here's the best news of all. It's PG. If you want to give younger audiences a giggle and introduce them to the more innocent Woody Allen, rent this one. It's a good time, but not one you'll write home about. -
MCT:November 5, 2007Well i'm not a good fan of old woody Allen, but did like Tracey in it.
Small Time Crooks Summary:
Thirty-one years after Take the Money and Run, Woody Allen returns to a life of crime in this broad comedy. Allen plays Ray Winkler, a low-brow con man who is married to Frenchy (Tracy Ullman), a former stripper. Ray and his buddies concoct a scheme to rob a bank by digging a tunnel from a defunct pizza place next door; as a cover, Frenchy opens a cookie shop in the storefront while Ray and company dig in the back. Ray's burglary is a failure, but Frenchy's cookies are a rousing success, and within a year the store has spawned a nationwide franchise that makes the Winklers rich. However, while Ray wants to move to Miami and bask in the sun, nouveau riche Frenchy now aspires to join high society, with posh art dealer David (Hugh Grant) as her guide. Written and directed by Allen and shot in New York City, Small Time Crooks features one of Allen's trademark strong supporting casts, including Michael Rapaport, Elaine Stritch, Jon Lovitz, and Elaine May. -
MCT:August 1, 2007
Woody Allen is Ray Winkler, bungling crook who has pushed his wife Frenchie (Ullman) to the limit by spending too much time behind bars. Despite promising to go straight, he cooks up a ludicrous plan to rob a bank by purchasing a premises two doors down from it and tunneling underneath and into the bank vault. In keeping with the uselessness of the idea, he brings in cohorts Denny (Rapaport), Benny (Lovitz) and Tommy (Darrow) to help him dig, while Frenchie runs a cookie business upstairs as a front. But while the tunnelling goes wrong, Frenchie's cookie business takes off and within a year the motley crew become millionaires.
Despite all the money, Ray and Frenchie still don't have any class and struggle to fit in with the more affluent people that their success and fame has brought them in contact with. Wanting to fulfill her pretentions as one of the rich and famous, Frenchie befriends suave art dealer David (Grant), while Ray prefers to eat take out and watch old movies. Understandably, Ray and Frenchie grow apart as each finds someone they think is more suited to them. But behind it all love is stronger than money as they are to find out.
If I were to sum up the theme of "Small Time Crooks" in one sound bite, it would be "money is not everything". There's more to it than that, but the central theme is one that crops up again and again. Frenchie does her best to fit in to the rich ensemble she rubs shoulders with, her penchant for fine wines and thick books in stark contrast to Ray's awkward suits and fondness for 12-inch super deluxe with anchovies.
Woody plays the neurotic fish-out-of-water with usual aplomb and even after 30 years it still has not gotten boring. Ullman is surprisingly entertaining as his inflated wife who cannot accept that money has not made her happy. Woody's gang of crooks (Rapaport, Darrow, Lovitz) are hilarious. Jon Lovitz is one man I think gets a raw deal ? his look and delivery are becoming of a very funny man. When asked by Ray Winkler why he wants to burn down the premises that he just bought, Benny (Lovitz) replies "I burn everything. It put two kids through college".
Although it does lag a little in the middle, "Small Time Crooks" is a winner thanks to the hilarious script, entertaining performances and worthy, if predictable, moral. -
MCT:July 2, 2007
I felt that this movie exposed Woody Allen's limitations of storytelling and directing...It was a little too predictable with the bumbling characters he portrays though I must admit that Tracey Ullman did a great job with her role...On the bright side, some of the dialogue was intelligent humour which came in the conversations with the upper society people...
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MCT:June 7, 2007This movie is really dumb. It started out okay, but just went dowhill from there. I don't recommend it.
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MCT:June 1, 2007
Bizarre but it completely works, I must have seen this movie at least 12 times now and every single time I see it the same jokes are every bit as clever as the last time I saw it.
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MCT:May 6, 2007
Serve perfeitamente para desanuviar. Típico do Woody Allen. Há quem diga que não mas é um excelente cómico. Diálogos inteligentes mas com alguns clichés. Tracey Ullman 5*. Para quem não conhece bem Woody Allen este é um bom filme para se começar.
Visto em 3/05/2007 -
MCT:March 31, 2007
Pretty much one of the most hilarious films EVER! Woody Allen is perfectly perfect in his role as a novice crook...and ends up getting the riches, the fame and all that goes with it in the most unsuspecting of circumstances!
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MCT:March 18, 2007
Woody Allen and a bunch 'o nyucks, trying to get rich quick while Tracey Ullman bakes cookies upstairs and makes them all millionaires... :)
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MCT:February 8, 2007
Personally I really liked this movie. It might be a little bit more slapstick-y than allen's other movie, but I still found it really enjoyable.
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MCT:February 5, 2007
Very funny Woody Allen farce about would be bank robbers who set up a cookie shop next to a bank as a cover, with hilarious results!! Tracey Ullman is excellent here.
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MCT:November 23, 2006
Tracy Ullman and Woody Allen were cute together, and the age difference wasn't totally shocking. An amusing piece of fluff. Elaine May was great.
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MCT:September 22, 2006
LOVED this movie - simply splendid and yet so simple. I have never seen a movie as good as this. Must-see.
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MCT:August 15, 2006
One of the greatest Woody Allen movies of all-time. He is one of the most comedic actors, and one of the best, if not best writer of all-time too. It was really funny with great preformances by Woody and Tracy Ullman (who got nominated for a globe for her preformance) well deserving. I love the whole idea that they got rich while doing something that was supposed to keep people distracted while they tried a hilarious plan to get rich. They got rich accidently is hilariously rich.
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MCT:April 22, 2006
One of those movies I went to see even though I'd never heard of it before in my life. Those movies ALWAYS turn out to be good.
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MCT:April 13, 2006
Man, this is a good one. I'm not a big Woody Allen fan but I have to give him props for this movie.
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MCT:April 6, 2006I find Woody Allen films to be either hit or miss. This one is definitely a miss.
The storyline is ridiculous and falls flat quickly, and the dialogue is so fast-paced and rushed that I never felt connected to any of the characters or their plights. I just felt like I was being left behind.
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