4. Small Time Crooks (2000)
The first out and out comedy Allen had produced for many years was a great success. It is broad, it is farcical and unlike many contemporary comedies, has a strong, twisting plot that keeps the audience involved right to the end. Woody Allen plays Ray Winkler, an ex-con who plans to rob a bank by setting up a cookie shop in the building next door and tunneling underneath. What he did not expect was how popular the cookie shop would become. Soon it turns into a nationwide franchise which lifts Winkler and his wife Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) up financially to a point where they are rich enough to be living amongst a higher class of people that they are used to. Often Woody Allen as an actor is the centre point of comedy in his films. This changed in Small Time Crooks as he allows the supporting cast featuring comedians Tracey Ullman and Elaine May to be as sharp and funny as him. This is light weight comedy full of zinging one-liners from beginning to end. It seems to be what critics wanted from Allen for years but it did not get the recognition it deserved. Perhaps if it had been released in the early 1980's It would field more praise than it does now.