A Ladra

I really enjoyed this movie, actually I've enjoyed it a number of viewings. I purchased the DVD. Why did Whoopie stop making movies that were so much fun. I enjoyed the books for which the movie is based, and prefer a woman to a man as a cat burglar. The cast is wonderful, especially Leslie Ann Warren, she is a total hoot. I won't spoil the ending but it was really cool. The atmosphere while they are bar-hopping is so realistic, having been a bar-hopper in my youth in San Francisco. Why isn't Hollywood making these little sleeper hits anymore. Now its all big budget busts, or small artsy fartsy movies. How about a well played mystery without the "Big" named pretty boys and girls as stars. More movies like this and perhaps the box office slump will not stop slumping...

Burglar is one of the movies on my top 50 funniest movie list. Unlike other reviews here, I rate it higher than Jumping Jack Flash. Perhaps its because this is a great movie for Bobcat's normally irritating character. Strange that there are no quotes for this movie! She and Bobcat have some truly great (although obscene) lines. Whoopie's scene in the closet while the soon-to-be-murdered character was screwing his ex-wife is hilarious. Bobcat has great scenes in the bar delivering a package, and later being interrogated John Goodman in the police station. The actors are all 2-dimensional but that only feeds the comedic aspects of the interaction of the stereotypes. The police-proofed apartment that Whoopie owns is a scream.

I love the Bernie Rhondenbarr books (written by Lawrence Block) and was thrilled to learn on his website that a movie version had been made of "Burglar in the Closet" that I'd never seen (give me a break - I was like 3 years old when it came out). Then, I read that Bernie was played by Whoopi Goldberg. Nothing against Whoopi, but that's horrifying. Bernie works so well in the books because he is this strange little Jewish man, not because he is a loud, obnoxious black woman. Doesn't fit. I saw the movie anyway, and was hugely disappointed. Maybe if I was unfamiliar with the books, I could have enjoyed it more, but instead I came away feeling upset with the butchery of a character I adore. I have heard, however, that Block has considered turning "Burglars Can't be Choosers" into a film starring George Clooney. I hope it will fare better.

Bernice Rhodenbarr is a cat burglar and used book shop owner. When an ex-cop comes to her with a threat to hand in evidence that he withheld years ago that would incriminate her, she is forced to do a job for him. She agrees to steal a woman's jewellery back from her ex-husband after a messy split. She carries out the crime but is interrupted and has to hide. When she comes out of hiding she finds the man dead and her bag of jewels gone. In order to clear herself she must find out who would want the man dead before the cops can get to her.

There was a time in Whoopi Goldberg's career where they constantly tired to use her smart mouth and streetwise appearance to make her into a female Eddie Murphy. This film appears to be another attempt to use her streetwise wit to good effect. The plot is some form of murder mystery with Bernie being framed and hunted by the police while she tries to catch the real killer. It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's just not very well done here. I struggled to care about the people that Bernie was chasing because I didn't know who they were – partly because the film didn't really explain as most of them are red herrings in preparation for the `twist' at the end.

In terms of tension the film is lacking and as a result I never really got into it. On top of this it's main selling point, the smart comedy, is seriously missing. There was one maybe two good lines in it and none of those was delivered by Whoopi. In fact you could be mistaken for thinking this film wasn't a comedy as there are so very few laughs in it. The whole thing feels very dated – I imagine that even when it was released in the cinema people must have looked at it and gone `whoa, that's soooo eighties'!

Whoopi is poorly used and is sold short by a very ordinary script, but she does have a good support cast to help her out. Sadly they are all sold short as well. Goldthwait is the only one who is allowed to do anything amusing, Goodman, Warren, Bailey, and Handy are all pretty much window dressing so badly are they used.

Overall this film is one from a series of films aiming for the same effect (see Fatal Beauty, Jumpin Jack Flash etc) but here the film totally fails to make good on any of it's assets. The plot is boring and overly convoluted given that we all know it'll turn out to be the least likely main character in the film, and the comedy (usually OK in even average Whoopi films like this) is AWOL. A pretty horrid way to waste 90 minutes – unrelentingly dull.

One of Whoopi Goldberg's many post-"Color Purple" blunders, a half-comic/half-serious rendering of Lawrence Block's series of stories about a cat burglar who witnesses a murder while robbing a house. Swinging wildly from farce to suspense, director Hugh Wilson's schizophrenic rhythm never finds an appropriate tone, and as such we never warm to Whoopi's character. Lowest point is her scene in the dentist chair, getting her teeth drilled in what may be an unofficial--yet totally unfunny--nod to "Marathon Man". It's always nice to see John Goodman helping out, but a little of Bob Goldthwait goes a very long way. *1/2 from ****