Take the Money and Run (Full Screen Edition)

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Woody Allen's feature-film debut, Take the Money and Run, a mockumentary that combines sight gags, sketchlike scenes, and standup jokes at rat-a-tat speed, looks positively primitive compared to his mature work. Primitive, but awfully funny. Allen plays Virgil Starkwell, a music-loving nebbish who turns to a life of crime at an early age and, undaunted by his utter and complete failure to pull off a single successful robbery, continues his unbroken spree of bungled heists and prison breaks even after he marries and raises a family. Narrator Jackson Beck, whose stentorian voice of authority makes a perfect foil for Starkwell's absurd exploits, lobs one droll quip after another with deadpan seriousness. Though spotty, Allen tosses so many jokes into the mix that it hardly matters and when they hit they are often hilarious: the chain gang posing as cousins to their old-woman hostage ("We're very close," Virgil explains to a dim cop), arguing with a dotty movie director who is supposed to be their cover for a bank robbery, Virgil's escape attempt with a bar of soap. Allen spoofs decades of crime films, everything from I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang to Bonnie and Clyde, but you don't have to know the movies to enjoy this goofy, sometimes clumsy, but quite clever comedy. --Sean Axmaker

Description

"The gags come every 30 seconds" (Boxoffice) in this "delightful satire" (Hollywood Citizen-News) from film legend Woody Allen in his brilliant first outing as writer, star and director. Allen is "hilarious" (NY Daily News) and "never fails to steal the audience's heart" (LAHerald-Examiner) in this inspired comedy that's nothing less than "nuttiness triumphant" (Look Magazine)! Virgil Starkwell (Allen), having no talent for his beloved cello, turns to larceny as a career. Unfailingly optimistic, he is nevertheless a complete criminal failurealthough his prison breakouts are often successful. And with the support of his loving wife Louise (Janet Margolin), he may yet pull off a successful bank heist if he can just manage to write out a legible stickup note!

Customer Reviews:

Woody Allen's funniest!.......2007-09-02

Not bad for Woody Allen in his first movie as star,director and writer! It is outrageously funny from start to finish. Add Jackson Beck's narration and you have the makings for a fun,humorous narration on the life and times of Virgil Starkwell, the mastermind of crime! I thought this was a winner when I first saw it several years ago and it is still funny!

IN SEARCH OF WOODY ALLEN.......2007-07-22

This is an early film (his first) of comedian /actor/director Woody Allen starring himself in the lead as Virgil Starkwell a bungling wannabe bank robber whose hijinks land him in prisons, in bed with a lovely girl and the halls of academia as an expert on crime. In this film we can see the outlines of Woody's seemingly endless love affair with early black and white crime and film noir classics. There is a little more use of sight gags here than in latter films but through it all Woody is still the funny bumbling New York Jewish kid that a long series of films will explore in greater detail. The use of an old time newsreel announcer to describe and set the framework of the film and detail the action is an interesting twist. Not the best Woody Allen film but a good look at the niche that he created for himself in American urban comedy/ social commentary cinema.

Take the Money and Run.......2007-06-28

Presented as a mock documentary complete with narration by radio ham Jackson Beck, Allen's hilarious directorial debut is nuttier and loaded with more gags than his later, more sophisticated New York films. But that's exactly why it works: The laughs are goofy and often puerile, and for all the zippy one-liners that don't quite elicit a full-belly guffaw, Allen piles on with cutting satire (focused mostly on footage of presidents Nixon and Eisenhower). You'll have a lot of fun watching this manic genius at work in one of his earlier comedic efforts.

One of Woody Allen's Funniest!.......2007-03-26

The first film Woody Allen did as the star, writer, & director is a small masterpiece from the man that is not only hilarious but also captures how much Allen has changed in style over the years.
Now, we're used to the Woody Allen movies where people walk around and talk, having intellectual conversations while making wisecracks. When Woody Allen first came out, his movies were goofy and built on sight gags and coincidences; "Take the Money and Run" is one of Allen's funniest movies. Allen plays Virgil Starkwell, a hardened criminal...Sort of. Virgil gets his start early, hanging out with the neighborhood kids and committing minor crimes (ones which he never gets away with). He also, in his spare time, plays cello in the local band (he's not very good at cello). After serving time in jail (and attempting to escape using soap and shoe polish to fashion a gun, only to find out it's raining outside), he meets Louise (Janet Margolin) and, eventually, marries her. Despite settling down, Virgil just can not stop committing crimes, which will lead him all the way back to prison and to a chain gang. The movie is told in a pseudo-documentary style that only few filmmakers could pull off. Allen does it perfectly. There's so much brilliance in this movie; there's nearly a gag a minute. From the beginning where Young Virgil attempts to steal a gumball machine and is chased by a cop, to near the end where Virgil (chained to 6 guys) try to pass off as a little old lady's cousins to a cop. There's a lot of people in the world who don't like Woody Allen and I don't see how you can't. His films can suit all tastes, be it comedy like this, comedy like "Annie Hall," or drama like "Match Point," his films are all so varied and (for the most part) original. And, having said that, "Take the Money and Run" is a film that will appeal to a much broader audience than the average Allen-film. It can appeal to a regular Woody Allen fan, a person who kind of likes Allen, a person who just likes a well-executed comedy or a kid who doesn't care about who the writer/director is and just wants to see a funny movie. In the comedic department, "Take the Money and Run" is a masterpiece.

GRADE: A-

Very good film.......2007-01-09

Take the Money and Run, is a film hilarius and funny. Woody Allen in the great moment.

Average customer rating:

Woody Allen's funniest!
IN SEARCH OF WOODY ALLEN
Take the Money and Run
One of Woody Allen's Funniest!
Very good film

Take the Money and Run
Starring: James Anderson , Grace Bauer , Jackson Beck , Lonny Chapman , and Dan Frazer
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305474826
Release Date: 1999-06-15

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Woody Allen's funniest!.......2007-09-02

IN SEARCH OF WOODY ALLEN.......2007-07-22

Take the Money and Run.......2007-06-28

One of Woody Allen's Funniest!.......2007-03-26

Very good film.......2007-01-09

Take the Money and Run, is a film hilarius and funny. Woody Allen in the great moment.

Average customer rating:

Grace and the Storm
Starring: Jay Cascio , Clarence T. Jones Jr. , Christopher Amitrano , Aaron Sigrist , and Ashley Yeater
Director: Christopher Baldi
Manufacturer: GO-KART RECORDS
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00073K7ZS
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Description

Evan Piper is a Manhattan drug dealer, secretly disgusted with himself and quietly searching for redemption. The possibility comes in the form of a mythical drug known only as 'Grace', but 'Grace' may not be all it's cracked up to be.

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