Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman, Elaine May, Hugh Grant, Michael Rappaport, Jon Lovitz
Woody Allen is my favorite director. In his nearly 50 years of making films, he has created films bursting with humor, creativity, and angst. He has had a couple clunkers (Celebrity, Stardust Memories), but the rest of his body of work is a pleasure to watch. His comedies range from slapstick (Sleeper) to the zenith of romantic comedies (Annie Hall). His dramas include Interiors and Match Point, which delve into the darkness of the human psyche. Then you have his films like Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives which walk the fine line between comedy and drama effortlessly. Very rarely has a director's body of work possessed such range. Small Time Crooks is a straight-up comedy and it's one of Allen's funniest.
The plot seems simple at first and we figure we know where it's headed, but then Allen takes us in another unanticipated direction. Woody plays Ray, an ex-con who did a stint in jail because "we found out I'm not a good stick-up man. We were all wearing Reagan masks and I couldn't tell who was who." Tracey Ullman is his long-suffering wife, Frenchie, who has seen her share of harebrained schemes go wrong. His latest is a beauty. He proposes putting up the couple's savings to rent a store as a front while he and his buddies tunnel under to a nearby bank. Frenchie decides to make cookies and the store becomes an overnight success. Meanwhile, Ray and his buddies bungle the heist hopelessly. Between piercing a water main, reading maps upside down, and finding their way into a clothing store, the heist goes nowhere. Thanks to a cop Frenchie's cousin naively blabs to, the guys find themselves franchising the store and become millionaires.
Are these the world's smartest millionaires? Hardly. Frenchie, longing to be more sophisticated and taken seriously among the wealthy, decides to hire an English art dealer (Grant) to teach her and Ray about art, wine, and other things the wealthy are supposed to be interested in, I suppose. Ray would rather eat a cheeseburger and fakes illness to avoid going to a museum. Frenchie finds herself "outgrowing" Ray, but how can she think she's a million miles removed from him when she calls crudites "crude-ites" and puts a harp smack dab in the middle of her living room?
Naturally, unleashing people like Ray and Frenchie loose on high society is a howl. Ray tries to win his new acquaintances over with jokes, "Did you hear about the Polish carpool? They meet at work." Frenchie (soon calling herself Frances) becomes a potential love interest for Grant, or does he have bigger plans in mind? Small Time Crooks is equally hilarious during the beginning heist scenes and when Ray and Frenchie become nouveaux riche. Allen is usually known for playing smart, sensitive types, but here he plays a dope who thinks he's smart. He doesn't even realize his nickname "The Brain" is sarcastic. The supporting performances are all superb as well.
What's great about Allen is his ability to take a germ of truth or an idea and flesh the comic richness out of it. Here he combines two great ideas into a comic gem. Allen and Ullman don't even necessarily hog all the great lines. During a poker scene, two of Allen's cohorts are raising each other $1,000 at a time. One lays down his hand, which is a pair of 3's. The other guy, stunned, says, "You see, I thought you were bluffing." With guys like that in your crew, how could Allen think anything could go wrong with his plan?
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