Customer Reviews

Take the Money and Run (Full Screen Edition)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Though I usually enjoy Woody Allen's more recent work, I'm one of many filmgoers whose heart still belongs to his earlier, anything-for-a-laugh, anarchistic comedies like Bananans, Sleeper, and this one. Take the Money And Run was Woody Allen's first real film to direct himself and it remains one of his funniest. Disguised as a documentary, this 1969 film tells the hilarious story of Virgil Starkweather, the world's most inept (if stupidly optomistic) thief. Like most of Woody Allen's early films, everything is played almost solely for the laughs it might provide and nearly forty years later, it all holds up very well. Lots of hilarious stuff in here (at times, this film is the funniest Mel Brooks film that Mel Brooks never made) but my personal favorite bits would have to include: Virgil's parents who disguise their indentities by wearing Groucho Marx glasses but will be familiar to anyone whose seen any of Allen's films, Virgil's attempt to rob a bank is foiled when none of the clerks can read his bad handwriting, another robbery goes wrong when a rival gang decides to rob the same bank at the same time, Virgil's attempt to escape from prison by making a fake gun out of soap is ruined when it starts to rain, the sight of Woody Allen on a southern chain gang (and being punished by being locked in the hole with an insurance salesman), and especially the scene where a man Virgil attempts to mug turns out to be not only a childhood school friend but an undercover cop as well. Directing with a wild-anything-goes-spirit, Woody Allen gives one of his first (and best) "born loser" performances as Virgil. Amongst all the madness, the film also presents a bizarrely sweet love story between Virgil and his wife, who is well-played by the lovely (and the sadly no longer with us) Janet Margolin. Always underappreciated, Margolin was one of those forgotten, at times almost painfully vulnerable actresses that one can't help but fall in love with everytime she appears on screen. Though overshadowed by the later Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow, Janet Margolin was Woody Allen's first unlikely love interest (in both film and briefly real life) and they have a strong chemistry together that adds much heart to a wild film. Take the Money and Run remains hilarious and will be enjoyed by both fans of Woody Allen and classic film comedy.

This is a review of the Take the Money and Run -- not the movie, but the DVD itself. The movie is a classic comedy that is appropriate for kids of 10 and over, as well as adults. If you've never seen it, the humor is a riot even though it's over 30 years old.

The DVD was just released and is a brilliant example of film restoration. The color is perfect, the grain is almost invisible, and you couldn't hope for a better print. The two-sided disk has TV-format on one side and

letterbox on the other, but as the film was originally shot for TV the images are nearly identical. There are a couple of extra items that you can access after the end of the film, but they're typical stuff.

The sound, however, leaves a lot to be desired. It's essentially mono, which is what you'd expect for a late-60's TV movie, but there are long intervals of noticeable hum. If you have a high-quality audio system, the 60-Hz hum sections are really annoying. In addition, there are a couple of key scenes where the voices have been so severely filtered that they sound quite unnatural. In a bizarre twist, the defects are more noticeable on better speakers...and almost imperceptable on a cheap TV speaker. So, listen to this one on your crummiest TV and you won't feel compelled to write reviews like this one!

This is the best of Woody Allen's strictly-for-laughs movies. The interview segments which he uses for both comedic and dramatic purposes in many of his films are probably the most fun here, particularly his "parents" who wear disguises. The gags are much better than in his "Bananas" and the more than slightly silly plot doesn't bog down as in his "Sleeper". There are no big moral soapboxes, this movie is just funny.

This is early Woody Allen at his hilarious best. He proves here that, when he wants to, he can go purely for laughs and score big. There are countless verbal and physical gags in this film and they're all brilliant. Beneath all the glorious bits, however, is a sweet love story--not so sweet that it obscures the comedy, however. This movie has ideas so fresh and funny, they'll stay with you forever. I know I'll never forget the first time I saw that gorilla chasing Woody out of a pet shop.

Compare this film to any other Woody Allen movie and you will see why it is the best and most solid work he ever did.

His leading lady is also the sweetest, most beautiful, noble while still just a bit not-all-there ethereal beauty he ever starred with, and then she disappeared into the Sixties haze.

THe gags are great, although through getting frequently stolen now fall flat in some cases. For instance when this was made having an escaping chain gang member respond to Woody's "You're crazy!" (of course later in his pretentious later movies he would have said You're insane) it was out of left field for the low life con to reply "That's right! I'm a paranoid schizophrenic, but we're still going to escape!" as the terminology was unknown to almost everyone back then. Also the reference to a high speed digital computer. Now it is not unusual for his aunt to have one, and the reference to What's my line? is lost now. Still this is the all time greatest Allen film, with the roots of later explorations.

Never has he achieved this level of parody again, rather he now makes homages to other styles (as Curse of the Jade SCorpion mimics rather than mocks screwball comedies of sixty years ago.)

Get it. It is the best we will see. Like listening to Bob Dylan while he was still awake and intelligent and not worn out by too much road and stuff.

I am only 12 and I think this is one of my favorite movies. Woody Allen is great, and the movie gives you surprises all the way through. The movie is narrarated like a crime special on tv wich makes it even funnier.

Woody definitely hit the comedy goldmine here with the story of Virgil Starkwell, World's Most Incompetent Criminal!

Done in a Prison/Heist movie meets Documentary style, Woody Allen and his inspired cast take you for a hilarious ride through the underworld with one hilarious mishap after another coming at you at machine gun pace. Punctuated by a great Marvin Hamlisch score and the authoritative yet clipped over-serious narration of the late Jackson Beck underlining the most absurd and hilarious moments, this is one movie that you just cannot tear yourself away from or stop laughing at and with.

Thrill and howl as you witness Virgil's cello virtuosity (LOL) in a marching band, his attempt to escape a chain gang that results in his imprisonment with an insurance salesman and his attempts at raising a family while on the run.

A comedy classic if ever there was! The Best of THE EARLY FUNNY ONES!

This is one of the funniest Woody Allen films. I don't know why it was released in full screen and that is why I deduct one star. One of Woody's less complex comedies, but still one of my favorites. The DVD transfer looks good, but a widescreen version should have been included.

This has to be one of the funniest movies ever made. When I first seen it was a Woody Allen movie, I didn't have high expectations. I decided to sit through it anyways. And, to my surprise I actually laughed through most of the entire movie. The documentary type style was the greatest idea. If you love irony this is a great movie to see. Heck, if you love to laugh this is a great movie to see. I give this one a big stamp of approval and I don't do that for many movies

For a 60's era movie, this is funny, hip, daring, topical, and satirical...traits that are commonplace today but not that common when this daring film was made.

One of the reasons that I'm not a fan of Woody Allen (besides that the sicko impregnated his adopted daughter) is that I don't appreciate the whole nebbishy, neurotic, lack of physicality, Jewish stereotype. I'm Jewish (albeit a "big" Jew) and that persona does nobody any good.

However, in 1969, when this movie was made, that negative caricature, was not really utilized in the movies. Taking that stereotype and coupling it with that of a ruthless and bold criminal was unique. The notion that the viewer saw the caricature as always failing, yet the charactor himself did not perceive himself that way, was a refreshing way of telling a story. The story and narrative was so odd that I find the movie [still] refreshingly funny.

Favorite scene...when Virgil is frisked at the prison and cracks up because he's ticklish.