Welcome to Collinwood ***½ (2002, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter, William H Macy, George Clooney, Luis Guzmán, Isaiah Washington, Patricia Clarkson) – Classic Movie Review 312

Welcome to writer-directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo’s likeable 2002 crazy crime caper thriller about a pawnshop safe robbery that goes awry due to the daft efforts of a gang of silly crooks.

It’s a slow-burning, quirky delight that runs along quirky but pleasurably familiar lines. Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter and William H Macy give highly amusing, offbeat performances as some of the gang members, while co-producer George Clooney is a hoot as the wheelchair-bound retired safecracker who trains them.

The downsides are that the screenplay is a bit patchy and that there is a flat spell in the middle of the movie. But it is still a very likeable entertainment, valuable for its warm spirits and for the on-form tasty cast.

Steven Soderbergh is the other co-producer. Luis Guzmán, Isaiah Washington and Patricia Clarkson also star.

Guzmán plays petty crook Cosimo, who is given the plan for the perfect heist by a lifer in prison, so he has to get out of jail fast. Clarkson plays his girl Rosalind, who soon has five guys lined up, looking to get their bungling hands on a piece of the action.

In 2006 the Russo brothers directed You, Me and Dupree, and went on to bigger things with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Film Review 312 derekwinnert.com