Synopsis: Virgil Starkwell (Allen), having no talent for his beloved cello, turns to larceny as a career. Unfailingly optimistic, he is nevertheless a complete criminal failure – although his prison breakouts are often successful. And with the support of his loving wife Louise (Janet Margolin), he may yet pull off a successful bank heist…if he can just manage to write out a legible stickup note!
***********************************************************************
Woody Allen’s first real feature as writer/director/actor (unless you count ‘What’s Up Tiger Lily?’ – which I don’t, because all he did was re-edit footage from someone else’s movie).
‘Take The Money And Run’ is a little uneven; the editing is off at times and the story ideas aren’t fully developped – it feels like some of the bits are improvised. His early humour is a bit on the corny side but, thankfully, this movie doesn’t have as much bad slapstick as the next few do.
So, while it peters out in the last 15-20 mins, it’s still a funny and entertaining movie – if you like to groan, that is.
All in all, it’s a good start to a career that is still running at full steam some 40+ years later.
