Rating: PG
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 07/06/2004
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 85 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Adult Humor
Distributor/Studio: MGM
When
Woody Allen's fans refer to his "earlier, funnier" pictures, they often cite his directorial debut as a shining example. Co-written by Allen and
Mickey Rose, this side-splitting takeoff of crime documentaries stars Allen as Virgil Starkwell, a sweetly inept career criminal. The film's most celebrated sequence involves Virgil's inability to write coherent holdup notes ("I have a gub"), but others include Virgil's losing battle with a recalcitrant coke machine and his misguided effort to emulate John Dillinger by carving a gun out of a bar of soap (his weapon disintegrates in a heavy rain). As was often the case in Allen's early films, not all the gags work, but for the most part,
Take the Money and Run is a delight, enhanced by the on-target supporting performances of
Janet Margolin,
Marcel Hillaire, and (uncredited)
Louise Lasser, as well as the energetic musical score of
Marvin Hamlisch.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
