Bovie Movie

When Woody Allen’s fans refer to his “earlier, funnier” pictures, they often cite his directorial debut as a shining example. Co-written by Allen and Mickey Rose, this side-splitting takeoff of crime documentaries stars Allen as Virgil Starkwell, a sweetly inept career criminal. The film’s most celebrated sequence involves Virgil’s inability to write coherent holdup notes (”I have a gub”), but others include Virgil’s losing battle with a recalcitrant coke machine and his misguided effort to emulate John Dillinger by carving a gun out of a bar of soap (his weapon disintegrates in a heavy rain). As was often the case in Allen’s early films, not all the gags work, but for the most part, Take the Money and Run is a delight, enhanced by the on-target supporting performances of Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, and (uncredited) Louise Lasser, as well as the energetic musical score of Marvin Hamlisch.

A thief finds one of his best friends is in jeopardy when a disastrous robbery turns out to yield the score of a lifetime in this action thriller. Jack Tolliver (Wesley Snipes) is a former Delta Force commando who has jumped to the wrong side of the law to take part in a massive heist intended to carry off the winnings of several major London casinos. However, the robbery goes haywire and one of Tolliver’s partners is taken hostage by handful of brutal Russian gangsters. It seems the gangsters want something that Tolliver mistakenly grabbed during the foiled heist — a case containing a rare painting by Van Gogh worth millions — and Tolliver is forced to team up with rival Kelly Anders (Tamzin Outhwaite) to save both his friend and himself.