Review of Take the Money and Run

Introduction

A very old (and typical) film starring Woody Allen who stars as a born loser, a wimp and an idiot to boot. The film is told ‘mockumentary’ style about his life, his loves, and interviews with his family and people who knew him. He grows up on the wrong side of town and desperately tries to get in with gangs, but fails, he tries purse snatching, but fails, he robs a bank, but… you guessed the rest!

If we were back in the 60s I’d imagine that this piece could be fairly amusing, the comedy is irreverent and, at the time, would have been very original. However this sort of thing has been done many times over now, so this is just another Woody Allen born loser/wimp film which shows his insecurities with life, but through the character, rather than just talking them out on the screen.

I’m not a fan, so this didn’t impress.

Video

The picture is 16:9 non-anamorphic. It is quite grainy with fairly unsubtle colouring. I believe this is due to 60s film stock rather than the print itself. However the print is clean and there are no discernable speckles. Contrast levels and sharpness are slightly muted, but again, this is probably down to the age of the film – this is still probably the clearest version of the picture you are likely to see.

Audio

Dolby Surround is the flavour of this one (Stereo main channel with a mono rear, no centre or sub), which is very odd for Woody Allen. As he is interested in the characters of the piece his films are mainly mono. It doesn’t really make a difference. I could never state that the rear channel was in use and the main stereo channels offered little in the way of separation or sound placement. Might as well have been watching it from the TV speaker.

Conclusion

I’m not a Woody Allen fan so am not one to comment about the wonderful characterisation, or wit and charm of the piece. This just didn’t blow my skirt up one iota. The jokes have been done before and the comedy failed to bring a smile to my face. If you’re a fan though I’m sure you’ll lap it up.