Bienvenue à Collinwood

This movie was recommended to me by a friend. I never saw an ad or a trailer, so I didn't know Clooney was in it and was not bothered by the fact that his role was so small. I thought the whole cast was suitable, and found the film pretty enjoyable, all in all. The opening scene, with the small crew of bandits standing at the side of the road, looking whipped and haggard, caught my attention immediately. It had a way of telling you, "don't go away; this won't be boring", and it really wasn't. It turned out to be an interesting, light-hearted comedy with enough twists and turns to keep you in your seat to the very end, but when the ending did arrive, I felt a little bit cheated....just a little bit. The events kept building up so that you expect them to continue building, but at a point that I can't define, it sort of levels out, making the ending a slight disappointment. I reckon I expected a bigger bang of a climax, but it turned out sort of low-key. If you watch the movie with that in mind and you can live without high dosages of George Clooney, you should find this flick very entertaining and well worth watching. Now I'd like to see the original (Big Deal on Madonna Street), but it's probably a rare find in the United States.

Picked up on grand theft auto, Cosimo is told of a big job by a lifer. Cosimo goes to his friend Toto to help get a guy to do his jail time for him so he can do the job. After asking around Toto comes up with Pero. However Pero double-crosses Cosimo and leaves him in jail and sets up the group to do the job without him. After they enlist the help of expert safe cracker Jerzy the group start putting down the foundations for a job that has all the hallmarks of disaster.

I went to see this with the usual blaze of hype that goes with any movie, the usual OTT quotes from the hacks etc. I didn't expect too much so it was a pleasant surprise. The plot is quite enjoyable and is enlivened by a witty (but not hilarious) script. The comedy of the actual job is great and delivered well. However I will stress that anyone who goes along with the words of Jonathon Ross (`I haven't laughed so hard in years') will probably be disappointed as it isn't a laugh a second.

The strength of the film is in the strong cast. There is no real star (although it will be sold on Clooney) and everyone carries the story and the humour. Macy is good, Rockwell is funny as always, Clooney has a good cameo, Washington is solid enough but I prefer Esposito when she uses her normal voice. Gabrielle Union has a very small part but manages to be very seductive in the first of her two scenes – she is clearly going to be bigger in the next few years or so. For me the star of the film is Michael Jeter. It's such a shame that he died not even a month ago but this is a good film to follow his loss with. He makes many of the laughs with his pathetic yet endearing old man. In some scenes he makes laughs out of nothing and his performance is pitch perfect.

On the whole I was tickled by this film and that was enough for me. Many will be let down as they have been told it is a laugh riot. If you go in just expecting a bit of fun with good actors then that is what you'll get. It's very slight but it is amusing enough to justify watching.

Sam Rockwell chalks up yet another affable, loopy criminal characterization. With "Safe Men", "Jerry and Tom", "The Heist" and later "Matchstick Men" this is becoming something of an expertise. To his credit, each time it's a winning act. Let's just hope he's not typecasting himself since Rockwell is clearly capable of a lot more.

With him are a band of equally oddball would be criminals, played terrifically by all with William H. Macy and Patricia Clarkson particularly on target. Then there's also George Clooney in a very funny cameo.

As with most caper movies, one does not ask for more than to be well entertained and this "Welcome to Collinwood" certainly succeeds in doing.

This is one of those few great films that comes out these days. I work at a movie theater, and every week I see countless pieces of crap, and so it's great to see a good one come along every once in a while. The film is about a bunch of broke small-time criminals who hear of a job that could make them rich beyond their dreams. The film follows the obstacles they have to overcome, such as how to get in, crack the safe, etc. George Clooney plays a very funny small part as a handicapped ex-criminal, who tries to show the guys the ropes. Other good actors are Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy and Luis Guzman. (Luis Guzman must have a fantastic agent, he's always in these great movies.) I've never heard of these Russo guys before this movie, but I look forward to their future projects!

It's shameful that egotistic, pretentious film geeks need to rip apart remakes claiming that they can't possibly live up to the foreign originals upon which they are based. Foreign movies never translate and those that believe they are fantastic are likely only convincing themselves that is true. That said, I had no idea "Collinwood" was a remake and, regardless, thought it was surprisingly funny, well acted (the cast was phenomenal led by Sam Rockwell's perfectly funny lead) and just a good watch. Was is high handed film noir? No. Should it have won an award? No. Was is an enjoyable hour and change. Absolutely. Clooney, as always, was great in a limited, albeit offbeat role. Macy was fantastic. Michael Jeter was a tour de force as the old dude with the dirty shorts. And Luis Guzman was absolutely hysterical. It's a good watch regardless of what the pompous elite film police think. Check it out.