Take the Money and Run (1969)

(Traveling through the Films Of Woody Allen)

Title: Take the Money and Run
Release Date: 18 August 1969
Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Janet Margolin
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065063/

My Rating: (8/10) ★★★★★★★★✩✩


Three years after his directorial debut, Woody Allen came back with his next film--the first film in which he wrote, directed and also starred. He plays Virgil Starkwell, an inept petty thief who goes to prison for unsuccessfully robbing a bank. The film is a hilarious mockumentary style film told through "old footage", voice overs and interviews. It's easy to see the comic genius of Allen, flourishing often and especially in my two favorite sequences--A) when Virgil finds himself chained to five other prisoners attempting to make a daring prison escape. "I'm not with them, I wanna stay!" B) When young Virgil plays cello in the marching band.

I've never really been into Woody Allen before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Janet Margolin as Virgil's devoted and innocent wife was sweet and fantastic and I look forward to seeing more from Woody, who's neuroses actually came across as endearing this time around. 




http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065063/