Small Time Crooks Reviews

Summary A dumb crook, his wife and their gang of misfits strike it really big when a botched bank job's cover business becomes a spectacular success.

• Comedy

• Crime

Sunnier and sillier than most of Allen's recent work, makes its belly laughs heartwarming. It's a most winning movie about losers.

Breezy, enjoyable romp gratifyingly zigzags in directions that aren't apparent at the outset and features some intriguingly personal subtext for longtime Woody watchers.

Anyone that knows anything about Woody Allen will realize that SMALL TIME CROOKS is a return to what Woody Allen does best... MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH! All that give this movie a bad review probably like Woody's attempts to find ARTISTIC CINEMA! Well Woody is best served by doing what made him famous, ridiculously funny comedy. By the way if you think PURPLE ROSE is a Woody Allen hit, you have to answer the door (reality is trying to talk to you). Since ANNIE HALL won best picture, it was and is the ONLY COMEDY to do such. Hence, nobody gives comedy its due. By the way it is MUCH harder to make people laugh than it is to make them cry! Keep making me laugh Woody!! Small Time Crooks is a GEM!

Small Time Crooks has some very high highs, but does drag at spots. Thus, it is not amongst Woody Allen's best works, though it does sport his classic wit, charm, and humor. The film's first half hour soars and is truly hysterical. With good supporting turns from Michael Rapaport, Tony Darrow, and Jon Lovitz, through this opening part, Small Time Crooks is a phenomenally funny comedy. After this, it begins to drag until its second act finally begins to hit its stride at which point it returns to being hysterical. However, due to this dragging portion immediately after the film skips ahead a year, Small Time Crooks is held back from being a better film. As it stands, however, it is a fun blend of crime and comedy while also being a good statement about staying true to yourself, marriage, and class structure. Overall, Woody Allen has better films, but Small Time Crooks' failures certainly do not derail the film and it remains a charming, funny, and entertaining film.

The latest from Woody Allen is an enjoyable trifle -- but Tracey Ullman and Elaine May walk off with the picture.

Diverting and provides a satisfying alternative to teen-oriented summer comedy.

For all its wispy fun, Small Time Crooks still tilts, with little-guy stubbornness, at windmills in Allen's mind.

A pleasant frolic, but fairly inconsequential in terms of the overall Allen output.

Sour and mostly feeble, with a depressingly curdled worldview. It bears no resemblance to Allen's surreal, open-ended comedies.

I honestly think this would've been a lot better if it had just stuck with the premise that was introduced in the first act. What we do end up getting isn't necessarily bad or devoid of any kind of humor or anything. It's just odd that the real gold mine of comedic potential was almost deliberately steered away from for seemingly no reason. That said, the cast is unsurprisingly solid, featuring some unmitigated heavyweights of the comedy world flexing their muscles for the audience's enjoyment. There's also no shortage of funny lines to be heard throughout this. I guess I'm just bummed that everything kind of feels like a wasted opportunity here once all is said and done.

Crime comedy. A bank robbery is planned by tunnelling from a bakery, but things don't go according to plan. Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman and Hugh Grant combine to maximise their comedic talents or irritating qualities depending on your point of view. The comedy is gentle and predictable so don't expect to actually laugh at any point. A harmless way of passing the time.

While it drags in parts and has a slim margin between hits and misses, Small Time Crooks does a number of funny (and unexpected) plot developments, and a nice role reversal for Allen's character.

National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA

• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

Online Film Critics Society Awards