Welcome to Collinwood (2002)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is a remake of an Italian film which was re-made in America in the mid 1980s as Crackers which flopped at the box office but I found it funny.This low key period comedy heist film follows lowlife criminal (Luis Guzman )who learns of a 'bellini' in jail and plans to rob a safe. His girlfriend (Patricia Clarkson) on the outside gets a gang together. The trouble is the gang are inept and plagued by bad luck. George Clooney pops in a few times to give advice as to how they should crack a safe.The film has a Coen Brothers feel to it but it is an early effort by the Russo Brothers who have enjoyed great success with Captain America 2.It has an ensemble cast which includes William H Macy, Sam Rockwell and Michael Jeter but the film is just trying too hard to be smart or to be a cult film and it is a soufflé that fails to rise to the occasion.

The Russo brothers first full-length feature film 'Welcome to Collinwood' is a funny slapstick heist flick. The tagline, 'idiots make lousy criminals' sums it up quite well. The story has a European feel to it which shouldn't be a surprise since it's a remake of 'I Soliti Ignoti' but the Americanization is quite well done because it looks American and the jokes work very well. While there is a moderate dose of slapstick, the dialogues are quite cleverly written.The slightly washed out colours and less glamorous contributes to the atmosphere and gives it an old school. The sets look like those of old Western flicks except that the cowboys are long gone. It's apparent that the story doesn't take place in modern time and I'm glad that the writers chose not to modernize it too much. The tension is maintained very well as the idiots go about attempting to carry out their plan.However, the ending slightly disappoints. Given the way the story was building up, I expected to end with a bang. The actual ending is quite lowkey but not a bad one.All the actors do a wonderful job. Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, the late Michael Jeter and Patricia Clarkson are outstanding. They are brilliantly supported by Luis Guzman, Andy Davoli, Jennifer Esposito and Gabrielle Union.Overall, 'Welcome to Collinwood' is hilarious and I wouldn't mind revisiting sometime in the future.

Five guys find out from a locked up inmate that there is money to be made from a robbery at an old building....But, things go hilariously wrong for the gang of misfits.The film does take a little while to build up and when it does pick up momentum it never ceases to stop with great comedic timing.The characters are all lovable in their own way, but when combined they create brilliant scenes, were you will be left breathless...The actual robbery itself is just hilarious, as the gang descend on the building, landing in a pool, trying to climb a ladder and losing Toto's pants!Sam Rockwell, however in my opinion; does a fantastic job portraying the individual who really wants the money as he schemes day and night on how to get the job done. The pairing between him and Jennifer Esposito, was just sweet....One comedy crime caper that should not be missed.

Silly, hilarious, tragic, sad, inevitable.A group of down-and-outs team up with a "seasoned" crook to elevate themselves out of their poverty. Great idea...if you ignore the screwup factor.Nice to see George Clooney doing something genuinely funny for a change. The casting is perfect and the acting standards very high. Although it could be said that the motley crew subject isn't new, I think this movie handles it in an interesting and unique way. Sufficiently so that it stands out from what has gone before.Very well done guys.