IMAGINE Woody Allen and Tracey Ullman as a couple, and let the hilarious banter possibilities fill your head. This film follows the life of Ray and Frenchy Winkler, an ex-con and a manicurist who live poorly but happily in Manhattan. Ray, whose sarcastic nickname in the joint was "The Brain", dreams of a better life, and he knows how to get it: rob a bank. Allen is at his befuddled best in this film, and his repartee with Ullman is fast-paced and sharp.

The plan is to set up a false front for a store that is across from the bank and tunnel under the street from this location into the bank's vault. While Frenchy bakes cookies for their "Cookie Shop" up above, Ray and his team of bumbling ex-criminals mishandle drills, break water pipes and discuss strategy. When Frenchy's cookies become the hit of the town, the misfits find themselves as CEOs and Vice Presidents in high society New York. As the film progresses, the loss of the original partners in crime is a shame, but the introduction of a fresh set of fresh characters such as David (Hugh Grant) and cousin May (Elaine May) keeps the film at the top level.

Small Time Crooks is a combination of a bungled heist flick and a nouveau riche comedy. It plays on classic themes such as inept criminals and high-society comedy without falling into banality. Allen keeps the same insecurities and neuroses as funny and fresh as ever, and the inclusion of new blood like Grant and May allows for inventive situational comedy.

As always, the writing is pure Woody Allen - you know if you like him, and if you do, you'll adore Small Time Crooks.