Classic Funny Woody Allen Movie
Added 2/14/2010
This movie was recommended to me by a friend since my wife is starting up a baking business. It's a cute Woody Allen movie with all the great comic relief I expected. It has a stellar and well chosen cast. It's a good time!
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F U N N Y......F U N N Y.......F__U__N__N__Y_!!!!! : )
Added 11/22/2009
First, let me say I am NOT a Woody Allen fan. I find far too
many of his films to be embarrassing and forced. However,
there is always an exception to the rule....and THIS is a film
which I recommend to anyone who wants to relax, have a good
time, laugh a lot, and watch the logically, and hysterically-
funny unfolding plot of a very, very, VERY funny movie!
Poor Woody Allen! His character here can't even rob a bank
successfully...and his "helpers" only make things worse! Tracy
Ulman, as his wife, bakes cookies -- this is an IMPORTANT part
of the beginning of the film, (I can see you're puzzled by this...but probably smiling already at the ridiculous juxtaposition of words). To say WHY Ms. Ullman's baking cookiies is an important part of the beginning of the story would give away too much of the plot...but believe me, her cookies ARE very important. Also -- you may never look at people who wear miner's hats the same way, ever again.....(?) Yes, you read that correctly!
HUGH GRANT, whose acting style -- and characters -- are mostly 180 degrees away from Woody Allen's, is also on board, in the latter part of the movie. These three -- plus supporting players -- make this movie a truly PERFECT comedy. What makes it a perfect comedy is that everything is so LOGICAL...no situation, no matter how ridiculous, seems forced. It is the low-I.Q., (and really STUPID!), characters of the movie who commit these blunders....for them, the funny mistakes and hilarious consequences just come naturally.
If you need a laugh...watch this movie. If you think Woody Allen can only do movies with "angst" in them....watch this movie. It is, in its own "small" way, one of the funniest movies ever made, and deserves a far wider audience.
Enjoy it! (And, if possible, have your favourite type of cookies on hand, to mumch while you watch!) : )
: ) ..... : ( ..... : ) ..... : ( ..... : ) ..... : ( .....
pS: A SERIOUS NOTE HERE, IF I MAY: Looking at other reviews, mentioning that most of the characters in it had "low-I.Q.s", and the undeniable fact that these "low-I.Q." characters in the film DID do really STUPID things, led me to ponder upon, and realize the difference between being stupid, (whatever one's IQ), and low I.Q. people who happen to be retarded. I myself have a cousin who is retarded -- slightly. She has a job as a bus-girl in a restaurant...and everyone she works with likes her immensely. She could easily become a waitress, with a rise in status and in pay...but the numerical calculations involved are beyond her (present!) mental capacity. She was, however, quite smart enough to divorce a husband she found difficult to live with -- perhaps a little later than a person with an "average" IQ would -- but she did do it! She KNOWS her limits, and lives within them -- though she is constantly striving to increase her mental skills....
STUPID people, however, seem NOT to know their limits -- or realize they HAVE any limits, and so NEVER strive to get beyond them. For instance, people with VERY high I.Q.s, in fact, were quite easily swindled by Bernard Madoff! I happen to know I have a near-genuis I.Q. -- but I've made some REAL stupid blunders in my life. However, I acknowlege these blunders and seek to improve
myself and not do such things again! The STUPID people in the movie "Small Time Crooks" however, thought they needed no improvement in their mental skills. No -- they weren't retarded. Their I.Q.s -- though perhaps higher than my cousin's -- however, were NOT put to good use. They did NOT know their limits, nor did they, (as my cousin has -- and as I have, too), strive to improve themselves in any way. "Why improve myself?" these characters, (and real-life people like them), must think. "I'm perfect already!" I suppose that's the difference between being merely retarded, and abysmally stupid -- in this movie, hysterically stupid --people. Being swindled by someone like Bernard Madoff does not mean a person is stupid -- but believing oneself to be perfect, truly is. Therein lies the difference. Low-I.Q. has nothing, really, to do with stupidity. But not being able to see that perhaps, just perhaps, one MIGHT be choosing the wrong thing do, has everything to do with it!
Stupidity knows no I.Q.!
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Ullman Matches Allen
Added 4/26/2009
I'm not always a big fan of Woody Allen's films but he and Tracey Ullman make a great pair in this 95-minute farce. Ullman has to be one of the most talented ladies to never achieve real movie stardom. She matches Allen laugh-for-laugh in here and, in some respects, even steals the show.
"Small Time Crooks" has a real classic-film feel to it, one of those old bickering spouse films but with more modern-day humor. Allen and Ullman trade some very funny insults, and there are many of these quality gags. Ullman is just plain hilarious as the bimbo-like "Frenchy."
Add a gigolo (Hugh Grant), a couple of inept crooks, a couple of old-time favorites, Elaine Strich and Elaine May, and a pretty funny premise and you have some good entertainment and an underrated Allen film.
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Some Definite Chuckles
Added 11/21/2008
Small Time Crooks is not classic Woody, but it certainly isn't pretentious or boring. The plot is fantastic and it's hard to suspend disbelief but a lot of the jokes here work. It's hard to say the same thing about his other recent releases, however. I would say that, as a director, Allen's been in full-fledged decline since Husbands and Wives, but this movie is small in scale and accomplishes its task. I like Tracey Ullman and thought she excelled in her role. Allen's script dances on the tightrope between condescension and humor in regards to these characters but in the end obtains respectable results.
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Take the Money and......
Added 2/19/2008
Everyone I hope recognizes that, if one lives long enough, that one is bound to start recycling ideas. That is the case here with Woody Allen's partial revival of his early film classic Take the Money and Run, with a class twist. Here Roy (Allen's character) is just as dimwitted as old Virgil of Take the Money but as an older and wiser man he knows when to quit (for a while anyway). So when Roy and his associates' attempted bank robbery is foiled by his bugling his wife's successful cookie shop cover operation sees them through the rough spots, again for a while. After a trip through the wilds of bourgeois New York the couple, after some disasters personal and financial, go back to the old tricks of the trade. I am not altogether sure what this says about class mobility in a democratic society but Roy please do not call me for your next caper. Funny, in Allen's slapstick way, in spots but not his best in this genre.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Classic Funny Woody Allen Movie
Added 2/14/2010
This movie was recommended to me by a friend since my wife is starting up a baking business. It's a cute Woody Allen movie with all the great comic relief I expected. It has a stellar and well chosen cast. It's a good time!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
F U N N Y......F U N N Y.......F__U__N__N__Y_!!!!! : )
Added 11/22/2009
First, let me say I am NOT a Woody Allen fan. I find far too
many of his films to be embarrassing and forced. However,
there is always an exception to the rule....and THIS is a film
which I recommend to anyone who wants to relax, have a good
time, laugh a lot, and watch the logically, and hysterically-
funny unfolding plot of a very, very, VERY funny movie!
Poor Woody Allen! His character here can't even rob a bank
successfully...and his "helpers" only make things worse! Tracy
Ulman, as his wife, bakes cookies -- this is an IMPORTANT part
of the beginning of the film, (I can see you're puzzled by this...but probably smiling already at the ridiculous juxtaposition of words). To say WHY Ms. Ullman's baking cookiies is an important part of the beginning of the story would give away too much of the plot...but believe me, her cookies ARE very important. Also -- you may never look at people who wear miner's hats the same way, ever again.....(?) Yes, you read that correctly!
HUGH GRANT, whose acting style -- and characters -- are mostly 180 degrees away from Woody Allen's, is also on board, in the latter part of the movie. These three -- plus supporting players -- make this movie a truly PERFECT comedy. What makes it a perfect comedy is that everything is so LOGICAL...no situation, no matter how ridiculous, seems forced. It is the low-I.Q., (and really STUPID!), characters of the movie who commit these blunders....for them, the funny mistakes and hilarious consequences just come naturally.
If you need a laugh...watch this movie. If you think Woody Allen can only do movies with "angst" in them....watch this movie. It is, in its own "small" way, one of the funniest movies ever made, and deserves a far wider audience.
Enjoy it! (And, if possible, have your favourite type of cookies on hand, to mumch while you watch!) : )
: ) ..... : ( ..... : ) ..... : ( ..... : ) ..... : ( .....
pS: A SERIOUS NOTE HERE, IF I MAY: Looking at other reviews, mentioning that most of the characters in it had "low-I.Q.s", and the undeniable fact that these "low-I.Q." characters in the film DID do really STUPID things, led me to ponder upon, and realize the difference between being stupid, (whatever one's IQ), and low I.Q. people who happen to be retarded. I myself have a cousin who is retarded -- slightly. She has a job as a bus-girl in a restaurant...and everyone she works with likes her immensely. She could easily become a waitress, with a rise in status and in pay...but the numerical calculations involved are beyond her (present!) mental capacity. She was, however, quite smart enough to divorce a husband she found difficult to live with -- perhaps a little later than a person with an "average" IQ would -- but she did do it! She KNOWS her limits, and lives within them -- though she is constantly striving to increase her mental skills....
STUPID people, however, seem NOT to know their limits -- or realize they HAVE any limits, and so NEVER strive to get beyond them. For instance, people with VERY high I.Q.s, in fact, were quite easily swindled by Bernard Madoff! I happen to know I have a near-genuis I.Q. -- but I've made some REAL stupid blunders in my life. However, I acknowlege these blunders and seek to improve
myself and not do such things again! The STUPID people in the movie "Small Time Crooks" however, thought they needed no improvement in their mental skills. No -- they weren't retarded. Their I.Q.s -- though perhaps higher than my cousin's -- however, were NOT put to good use. They did NOT know their limits, nor did they, (as my cousin has -- and as I have, too), strive to improve themselves in any way. "Why improve myself?" these characters, (and real-life people like them), must think. "I'm perfect already!" I suppose that's the difference between being merely retarded, and abysmally stupid -- in this movie, hysterically stupid --people. Being swindled by someone like Bernard Madoff does not mean a person is stupid -- but believing oneself to be perfect, truly is. Therein lies the difference. Low-I.Q. has nothing, really, to do with stupidity. But not being able to see that perhaps, just perhaps, one MIGHT be choosing the wrong thing do, has everything to do with it!
Stupidity knows no I.Q.!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Ullman Matches Allen
Added 4/26/2009
I'm not always a big fan of Woody Allen's films but he and Tracey Ullman make a great pair in this 95-minute farce. Ullman has to be one of the most talented ladies to never achieve real movie stardom. She matches Allen laugh-for-laugh in here and, in some respects, even steals the show.
"Small Time Crooks" has a real classic-film feel to it, one of those old bickering spouse films but with more modern-day humor. Allen and Ullman trade some very funny insults, and there are many of these quality gags. Ullman is just plain hilarious as the bimbo-like "Frenchy."
Add a gigolo (Hugh Grant), a couple of inept crooks, a couple of old-time favorites, Elaine Strich and Elaine May, and a pretty funny premise and you have some good entertainment and an underrated Allen film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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