Watch Small Time Crooks For Free

Powerful

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I love this period in Woody Allen's work. The 90s were a time when he made several filmed experiments. He made a social satire, a musical, a character study and semi-autobiographical study of his relationships with women. I'm glad that Woody is trying new things but STC reminded me of what I loved about his work in the first place: He can write comedies that are very, very funny STC is a flat out comedy, it has no other reasons for being then to make us laugh. It is inventive and sweet and Allen has not only surrounded himself with a cast of wonderfully talented actors but puts a new spin on his nebbish persona.Here's the story: Allen and Tracy Ullman play a blue collar couple living the in middle class doldrums of New York City. Allen is a professional criminal who hits upon the idea of renting out a store and having his wife sell cookies as a front while he and his cohorts are in the basement digging a tunnel to the bank next door. The heist is bungled when Allen and his cronies end up in a dress shop while Ullman is in the front making a fortune selling cookies. The become millionaires in the cookie business.Now, this would have been enough for any other comedy but this is Woody Allen, he has other surprises up his sleeve. The couple live it up, Ullman trying to fit into the Manhattan social scene can't escape the fact that she is a butcher to good taste (Just how much leopard skin can you fit into one Penthouse?) Allen (a sullen, dimwitted slob) on the other hand is just as happy eating cheeseburgers and watching the Nicks game The two have a wonderful rapport together but the plumb part goes to Elaine May who plays Ullman's cousin. She all but steals the show in the scene where Allen is suppose to rob a rich socialite's safe during a party. He tells her to mingle and talk about the weather. She does just that, giving out weather reports.What I loved about STC is that it never tries to be anything more than what it is, it's a flat out comedy. But, Woody being the genius writer that he is takes what would have been otherwise just a comic idea and takes it one step furthur. It is fun to watch a comedy this inventive.

Nobody likes to see Woody Allen complain for 90 minutes more than I do, but "Small Time Crooks" sorta phones it in. It's basically three movies in one, but none of the three really brings much new. It starts of as a comedy about goofy criminals, then it has a (too) lengthy fish-out-of-water act, then finally it goes back to square one and puts in some more love story lines. The characters are never particularly engaging, and Allen himself is surprisingly annoying in this one. There are a couple of bright spots though, and they can come from where you least expect it. For instance: Hugh Grant is really good in this movie. He may not be in it much, but it was refreshing to see him play something slightly different for once. Slightly. The best part of the movie is Elaine May's character though. The idiot character is probably the easiest part to write, but some of her lines are really quite inventive. "Small Time Crooks" is clearly one of the lesser works, but that doesn't really make it bad.

I have always thought of Woody Allen as someone with his own particular take on things so it's strange - for me - to find him straying into Donald E. Westlake territory, albeit the comedy crooks side of Westlake as exemplified by Dortmunder, Kelp, etc, rather than his more serious side. Having said that Woody proves adept at homage though he soon more or less abandons his associates to concentrate on a satire of nouveau riche which has been done a million times before and often better. Nevertheless it's a rare Woody Allen film that doesn't offer some rewards - often in the shape of one-liners, sometimes (Manhattan) in the use of 'standards' on the soundtrack. This is, on balance, minor Allen but still has its moments.

Woody Allen,Tracey Ullman,and Hugh Grant star in Small time crooks. Small time crooks is strictly a comedy. You know that from the opening scene. It's a funny and fun film that goes in directions that you don't expect.Allen plays a crook. Him and his wife(Tracey Ullman) live in New York. When him and his gang of crooks(Michael Rappaport,Jon Lovitz and others) try to break into a bank by crawling through a ditch underneath a cookie shop, they are mistaken for trying to expand a cookie company. so instead of robbing a bank,everyone gets money from the cookie business.A year goes by. Everyone is rich. Ullman's character tries to get into the arts in stuff when she meets a wealthy man(Hugh Grant) and sort of falls for him. But it turns out that he has no interest in her,he just wants her money.Small time crooks is funny. You know that it's going to be from the beginning. It's not as good as some of Allen's other works. Such as Match point, Manhattan,Vicky Cristina Barcelona,and others. No I didn't mention Annie Hall not because I haven't seen it but because i'm not that crazy about it. It's not his best but it's not his worst. I've seen over ten of his films. I can judge.Overall, Small time crooks is funny and fun and mischievous and I enjoyed it like I enjoy all of his films. Simply, it's not his best,but not his worst. I think we can leave it that, and call it a day.Thumbs up.B+