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January 19, 2005
Small Time Crooks
Small Time Crooks (2000), Woody Allen:
The first of the Dreamworks Woody Allens, and from what I've heard, the best of the lot. I'm not sure I buy the put-Woody-Allen-out-to-pasture arguments because Sweet and Lowdown was one of my favorite, and that wasn't that long ago. I can't argue, though, that he hasn't lost something; the only other Allen I've seen since Lowdown was Hollywood Ending, which was an incredibly hollow exercise.
I guess on some level, you can really gauge a Woody Allen movie on the strength of the co-star. Woody's performances go through their swings, but there's a huge difference between Tea Leoni and someone like Mira Sorvino.
Here, Tracey Ullman sums up the movie perfectly. She acts her part soundly, but never really shines. Honestly, it really was a Mia Farrow role, and near the end I realized that it should've been her (nevermind she can't really do the New Jersey bimbo well.) Maybe if she were still around, this could've been really great, even with Woody Allen's admittedly diminished abilities. I really felt that this, like Hollywood Ending, wants to be a deeply personal film but comes off frivolous and without the necessary emotional investment.
8/15
Posted by bing at January 19, 2005 12:20 AM