Small Time Crooks (2000)

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

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Carolyn Saxon, Tracey Ullman

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Dishwasher and small-fry criminal Ray hits on a plan with his partners in crime to re-open a local pizza place and dig through to the bank down the street. As his wife can't cook pizza but does great cookies, that's what they sell. While the no-hope tunnellers get lost underground, the cookie operation really takes off and the team find themselves rich business people. But the other local money isn't quite ready to accept them.

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Plot Keywords:

crook | safecracker | harp | written and directed by cast member | screwball | 

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Taglines:

Explodes with big-time laughter.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Woody Allen Spring Project 1999

Filming Locations:

Doyers Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£184,548 (UK) (1 December 2000)

Gross:

ESP 477,699,084 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Sweetland Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (Mono) Dolby Digital (Mono)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film contains several references to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story 'The Red-Headed League,' including the plot to break into a bank through the basement of an adjacent storefront and Frenchy's attempt memorize the contents of the dictionary.

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Goofs

Denny is manipulating the box of dynamite as to allow the bottom to fall out.

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Quotes

Ray: Ever heard of the Polish carpool? Every day they meet at work.

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Connections

References Take the Money and Run (1969)

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Soundtracks

"Voices of Spring Waltzes Fruhlingstimmen op.110"
Written by Johann Strauß
Performed by Vienna State Opera Orchestra (as The Vienna State Opera Orchestra)
Courtesy of Chesky Records

User Reviews

Closer to Old-School Woody in spirit, but not execution

"Small Time Crooks" is the latest movie from Woody Allen, and it will likely be seen by the same people who go see all of his other movie (myself included) but will likely not branch out far from there. It's funny, and Allen fans will enjoy it, but it's certainly not an outstanding comedy.

Allen plays Ray, a schlub living in New York who concocts a crazy scene to rob a bank. It involves a cookie store, a tunnel, and lots of drilling. It also stirs up one of the two out-and-out hilarious sequences in the movie.

After the digging sequence, the film takes an unexpected turn (which I will let you discover for yourself), and the section immediately following the "One Year Later" card is the best of the film. Sadly, the brilliant media satire and perfect lines are not repeated again in the film. for the remaining hour.

A lot of people have commented how this is Woody getting back to his roots. Certainly the film starts off like a lot of his early works, and the premise certainly shares a good deal with Take the Money and Run, but I would not put Small Time Crooks on the same level as that film, one of my favorite comedies. While it's certainly a lighter film than his later works, Allen just doesn't have the same bizarre gags and total disregard for reality that the early works had. That insane-genius-laughing-at-us-all energy is missing.

Still, the film looks great and the cast is especially good. I'm sorry we didn't get to see more of Michael Rappaport and John Lovitz, who sadly only appear in the first portion of the film.

Again, the movie isn't bad, it's just no Take the Money and Run. Recommended for Woody fans, but I wouldn't say expect the old master here, rather expect an older master doing his best to relive those early greats.