Small Time Crooks (2000)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

19 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Explodes with big-time laughter.

Plot:

A loser of a crook and his wife strike it rich when a botched bank job's cover business becomes a spectacular success.

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Bad Taste | Rags To Riches | Cellular Phone | Small Business

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Ray
Carolyn Saxon	...	Candy Salesperson
Tracey Ullman	...	Frenchy
Michael Rapaport	...	Denny
Tony Darrow	...	Tommy
Sam Josepher	...	Real Estate Agent
Jon Lovitz	...	Benny
Lawrence Howard Levy	...	Dynamite Dealer (as Lawrence Levy)
Diane Bradley	...	Cookie Store Customer
Crystal Field	...	Cookie Store Customer
Cindy Carver	...	Cookie Store Customer
Ray Garvey	...	Cookie Store Customer
Bill Gerber	...	Cookie Store Customer
Olivia Hayman	...	Cookie Store Customer
Laurine Towler	...	Cookie Store Customer

Also Known As:

Woody Allen Spring Project 1999 (USA) (working title)
Woody Allen Summer Project 1999 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS (Mono) | Dolby Digital (Mono)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:I | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:PT | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Mott Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Woody Allen places a large gumball machine in one of the opening scenes to create a link between his character, Winkler, and fellow inept criminal Virgil Starkwell from Take the Money and Run (1969).

Goofs:

Factual errors: The box of "Belgian" chocolates in the opening scenes is clearly a box of Perugina chocolates, an Italian brand.

Quotes:

Ray: What are you gonna do with a flower shop?
Benny: Burn it down
Ray: You're still burning stuff for insurance?
Benny: I burn everything, how do you think I sent two kids through college?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Oi diaplekomenoi: (#1.8)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Could It Be

A film of three thirds

We'll get this out of the way first - I'm a huge Woody fan, and will fight anyone who disses...

HOWEVER,

This is one of his minor works (see also - Manhattan Murder Mystery, Everyone Says I Love You), and as such comes as a bit of a disappointment if you are intimate with such masterpieces of cinema as Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and her Sisters.

Woody seems to have faxed in his performance (a little hazy like Robin Williams in Deconstructing Harry, perhaps?) and the character is totally wrong for him. Tracey Ullman, however, is just just perfect.

Oddly, the film changes styles every half hour - the first starts like a golden-age caper comedy, then switches to a comedy of manners (very french) and ends up with a traditional Woody 'love lives falling to pieces' plot. Of course, the final third is the most satisfying.

So, a must for Woody fans to stick to the end with, but the question has to be asked -

Is he not too old for this now?