Small Time Crooks

Aroview: Woody Allen throws back to his earlier, funnier days and proves conclusively that his revered wit or ability to spin a good, unpretentious yarn hasn't abandoned him yet.

The stock situation of a bunch of bungling would-be bank robbers takes an abrupt turn when Woody and his no-nonsense wife (Tracey Ullman) strike upon an unlikely fortune. Borrowing equal parts from 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'Pygmalion', this is a generally well-rounded rags-to-riches tale about the happiness that money can't buy. Ullman is a particular revelation (effortless in a character she's practised for years), and strikes up a comic chemistry with Woody that not even Diane Keaton came close to.

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