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, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant

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:

criminal | planning a robbery | neo screwball comedy | heist | new york city | 

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Taglines:

They took a bite out of crime.

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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:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,880,723, 21 May 2000

Gross USA:

$17,266,359

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$29,934,477

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, 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

Woody Allen claims he cast Tracey Ullman because she's one of the few comedians that makes him laugh.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Frenchy: All right, all right, hold your water.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: From Paris with Love/Dear John/Frozen (2010)

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Soundtracks

Stompin' at the Savoy
Written by Edgar M. Sampson, Benny Goodman & Chick Webb
Performed by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (as Benny Goodman & His Orchestra)
Courtesy of RCA records Label of BMG Entertainment

User Reviews

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?