Woody Allen has had an award-winning career in comedy – as a writer, actor and film director. But, his frequent roles as a whiny character on film soon become grating to me and wear out much of the comedy of the script. This film is an exception. Although other projects have received the honors, "Small Time Crooks" is one of the funniest of his films. It has more witty dialog and funny situations than most. And the script is loaded with enough hilarious dialog that it overrides the few occasions when Allen's character reduces to whining about something. The plot for this film is superb and very funny with its several diversions. The acting is tops by the entire cast. Allan is very good as Ray, and Tracey Ullman is a riot as his wife, Frenchy. Jon Lovitz is Benny, Tony Darrow is Tommy and Michael Rapaport is Denny. All have very funny scenes and lines. Hugh Grant does a fine job as a straight man. But Elaine May as May has the best lines by far and steals the scenes in which she appears. I rate this one of the funniest and best of Allen's movies, especially for the screenplay and the excellent cast. It's a very good caper comedy. Here are some of my favorite lines from the film.Ray, "What would you say if I told you you were married to a genius?" Frenchy, "I'd say I must be a bigamist."Benny, "Where do you get four fourths and a third?" Denny, "Look, I don't do fractions, right?"TV reporter, "Or, as we in television say, there's no accounting for the public's taste."May, "I'm a hemophiliac." Edgar's wife, "Oh dear, are you bleeding?" May, "Why would I be bleeding?"May, "They diagnosed it as Parkinson's. But they think it could be the Ebola virus or Mad Cow Disease."

Review: This is an average movie by Woody Allen which I didn't really find that funny. In many ways I found it more annoying than anything because the storyline was ridiculous Woody Allen is babbling on about rubbish all the way through the film. Tracey Ullman clearly saved the movie as the rich wife of Woody Allen whose attracted to the stuck up Hugh Grant, but when she loses all of her money she soon finds out that Grant was only interested in her cash. I found this movie weak and uninteresting because of its far fetched concept, but it's harmless fun if you want a movie without much depth. Average!Round-Up: This is yet another movie from Allen which I struggled to stay awake through. It's Allen's basic rambling that gets on my nerves in some of his films and his unnecessary million words per minute. I have noticed that he directs other actors much better than he directs himself, which makes his films a bit hard to enjoy because he is in most of his movies and he gets most of the screen time. When I have finished watching all of his films that are on my rental list, I will be able to make a better overall verdict about the writer/producer/director, but at this precise moment, I'm in 2 minds about his work. He is definitely unique and original, but the question is still out there if it's in a good or bad way.Budget: $25million Worldwide Gross: $30millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a couple who plan to rob a bank but end up making there fortune from selling cookies. 3/10

I have always thought of Woody Allen as someone with his own particular take on things so it's strange - for me - to find him straying into Donald E. Westlake territory, albeit the comedy crooks side of Westlake as exemplified by Dortmunder, Kelp, etc, rather than his more serious side. Having said that Woody proves adept at homage though he soon more or less abandons his associates to concentrate on a satire of nouveau riche which has been done a million times before and often better. Nevertheless it's a rare Woody Allen film that doesn't offer some rewards - often in the shape of one-liners, sometimes (Manhattan) in the use of 'standards' on the soundtrack. This is, on balance, minor Allen but still has its moments.

If you can hold on through some lame one-liners and weak slapstick in the first half-an-hour of 'Small Time Crooks' you'll be amply rewarded with some much better comedy in the second half.There's oodles of comic talent on show (Tracey Ullman and Elaine May playing the dumb and dumber broads are wonderful) and there are enough gems in the dialogue to keep the brisk, frothy plot bouncing merrily along for a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes.Comic highlights? Without giving too much away look out for the Sunset Farms documentary at about half way and Elaine May's (she seems to have all the best lines) reference to her first husband Otto. In fact Elaine May, in a rare appearance, is an absolute treat.