Small Time Crooks
***1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Cornerhouse (Manchester)
Released in the UK by UIP on December 1, 2000; certificate PG; 94 minutes;
country of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Woody Allen; produced by Jean
Doumanian.
Written by Woody Allen.
Photographed by Fei Zhao; edited by Alisa
Lepselter.
CAST.....
Woody Allen..... Ray Winkler
Tracey Ullman..... Francis 'Frenchy' Fox Winkler
Michael Rappaport..... Danny
Tony Darrow..... Tommy
Elaine May..... May
Jon Lovitz..... Benny
Hugh Grant..... David
Ray (Woody Allen) has a plan. Open up a cookie
store a couple of doors away from the bank. Invest $6,000 for expenses, as
will two buddies, Danny (Michael Rappaport) and Tommy (Tony Darrow). While
Ray's wife Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) is baking and selling upstairs, the guys
will tunnel into the bank. Brilliant, huh?
"Small Time Crooks" is a movie where
the plot gets so ludicrous that it is in itself one of the jokes. To get
the lease for the cookie store, the gang have to buy it from someone who
planned to turn it into a flower shop; that guy turns out to be a criminal
as well, and he goes in with them. The bank robbery scheme of course falls
through -- but the cookies are a big hit. A cop finds out what the group
were up to, but instead of locking everyone up he becomes their business
partner, making suggestions that turn them into millionaires.
Scenes get progressively ridiculous. Early on
in the picture Frenchy goes down to the basement to find out what the men
are up to. Not much, it seems. "What are you waiting for, the drilling season?"
she asks them. Then they start drilling, burst a water main, and flood the
building.
After the cookies take off, the movie becomes
an affectionate satire of nouveau riche dilemmas; but let's not go into that
-- let's just admire the way it's all carried through with good slapstick
humour and nice one-liners. They're obvious and cheap, but they hit the mark.
"Yeah, he is street smart," Frenchy remarks about one of Ray's pals. "His
brains've got potholes."
The obviousness of the humour is fine, because
the tone of this movie is so old-fashioned. The characters have strong and
basic values -- witness Ray's simple desire to get rich, and then his simple
desire to get back to normal, and take note of the affection he and Frenchy
express for each other in both their quiet moments and their rows. The streams
of rapid-fire wisecracks reminded me of classic comedies like "The Philadelphia
Story" -- the characters talk in theatrical banter, and Allen's hyperactivity
is the most noticeable, as he makes big gestures, talks to himself, squints
his eyes in disbelief.
Allen is perhaps the greatest of living directors,
and has now been at it for quite a while. "Small Time Crooks" is the work
of a man with a childish sense of humour and the skill of a professional,
combining the goofy spirit of his early efforts with the look and texture
of his later, more sophisticated work. There's not too much you can say about
good comedy, other than it works -- you can't analyse your responses too
much, and you don't want to give away too many gags. This is one of the year's
best films.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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