Word: allen
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...loyal following. "The Simpsons," of course, premiered as a short on her show before exploding on the FOX Network. A comedic chameleon, Ullman barely stays in character for more than five minutes on her show, but she elicits sympathy and laughs as Frenchy Winkler, the lead role in Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks. Talking to her in New York City, I realized that Ullman is just as hilarious and witty off camera as she is once they start rolling...
...twelve years ago, you said in an interview that you dreamed of working with Woody Allen someday...
...great thing about Woody Allen comedies is that they move almost frantically - that wispy plot summary I just gave you covers about 10 minutes of the film. Allen begins with a concept and then uses his 90-minute movies to explore every possible angle of it. In this case, the Winklers ride the wave of Allen's fantasies - extremely random circumstances of fate throw their lives into disarray constantly, but we get the feeling that it's Woody playfully throwing ideas around as to actually crafting character arcs. The script seems to pose questions: What happens if the Winklers struck...
After a couple of forays into more serious territory, Woody Allen is back to fluff. _Small Time Crooks_ has that comfortable _Manhattan Murder Mystery_ feel - a plot that's more of a concept than a real, unfolding story; characters that thrive on invention rather than reality. I can't quite figure out why, but these goofy movies - the ones that have no other purpose than to carve out a realm of fantasy in the corners of New York drudgery - are my favorite Woody Allen movies...
Giving away too much of the plot would spoil the pic's comedic surprises, so I'll give you a barebones outline. Woody Allen plays Ray Winkler, a lowlife, an impractical dreamer, who has to put up with the constant nags of his wife Frenchy (Tracy Ullman). Ray spends his days conjuring schemes - usually illegal ones (he's done some hard time - yes, yes, imagining Woody Allen surviving time in a jail cell is part of the humor, I'm sure). This time, Ray notices that a store next to a bank is up for rent and convinces his friends...