Welcome to Collinwood (2002)

This is one of those "little great movies" made almost by low key approach and as art film. It tells the story of few guys planning to rob the safe in jewelry store. Each one of them has the same reason for it. Money. One character, Toto, leaves poorly in abandoned hangar, other guy, black man Leon, has a sister who is soon to be married and he needs dough for the wedding. Riley is also very poor, his wife is imprisoned and he leaves alone with his baby and so on... However, whole point of the movie is that robbery they looking to execute is doomed since the beginning. Only characters aren't aware of this issue. Movie reminds a bit of "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in terms of style and setting, but far less violent. Violence happens very rarely or almost never, and when it happens it's played for laughs and when you compare that with running time (86 minutes) you get very lightweight, very easy film. Those two things are only criticism I have. On brighter side, actors did their work tremendously and Sam Rockwell leads. I haven't watched many of his movies, but he is so damn good in this. Very good. Along with George Clooney, who appears in episodic role (3-4 minutes) as safe cracker veteran who teaches our guys how to crack the safe. Of course, it would be unfair if I don't mention late Michael Jetter and Luis Guzman, Patricia Clarkson and Isaiah Washington. Dialogue is well written and locations are realistic. Overall, movie is very enjoyable for anyone who loves crime/black comedy features, except when it ends, it'll leave you wondering why hadn't lasted a bit more.

"Welcome to Collinwood" is about a thief getting the plan for the perfect heist. The trouble is, the thief is in jail, and the crime cannot be carried out until they find a jail replacement. No-one wants to do time for the crime, but everyone seems to know a guy who will - but for a price. A group of 6 friends are soon looking to get their filthy hands on a piece of the action!The directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo create this film in a great way, making you laugh the whole way through. It is a spin on "Ocean's Eleven" (2001), but with double the laughs! The film is made up of Top- Notch performances, making it the funniest comedy of the year!The film features George Clooney as Danny Ocean, a retired US Army soldier, who is an expert at cracking safes. He doesn't feature in the film much, but is performances are amazing as always. Even though his appearances aren't huge, he still plays an important part in the film.The film successfully puts crime and comedy together to create the perfect film. It clearly demonstrates how 2 completely different genres can be added together, and work well. It takes us about half of the film before we fully understand the story and catch on to the humour, but when the film ends you will be laughing hard, and wishing that the humour could have gone on for longer.Overall I would recommend the film to anyone who is into comedies. It is energetically written, and the effort has clearly paid off. It is truly a masterpiece of humour.8/10

Produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, this little crime caper with some good people in it sounded like an average film, and I had nothing else to do. Basically Cosimo (Luis Guzmán) is arrested for attempted theft of a car, and while in the clink an old guy tells him a perfect heist, the kind of job you only dream of, so he wants to get out of prison quick. He tells his girl Rosalind (Patricia Clarkson), and she spills the beans to a small gang of crooks who will relish the job. These crooks: Pero (Sam Rockwell), Riley (William H. Macy), Toto (Michael Jeter) and Leon (Ghost Ship's Isaiah Washington) plan their raid on the jewellery store and its safe, but of course not everything can go smoothly, so expect plenty of mistakes and near catches during the job. Also starring Andrew 'Andy' Davoli as Basil, Gabrielle Union as Michelle, Jennifer Esposito as Carmela and George Clooney in a little cameo as Jerzy. It is a little boring with loads of chat and made up words, e.g. "Bellini", and it has to be said that the funny moments are really when they actually try to do the job, and fail miserably, but I guess it's okay to see once. Worth watching!

This movie was a huge disappointment. It was set in Cleveland, and attempted to capture the grittiness and earthiness of this city. However, the movie was far inferior to Buffalo '66 (a successful attempt to capture the gloom of Buffalo, NY). None of the characters were very likable or interesting. They all seemed to be in and out of prison. Even William H. Macy's character was rather dull and one-dimensional. The lack of charisma to the characters completely destroyed an ability to develop any depth to them, in order to send out a societal message. Instead, we just have a bunch of laughable, pathetic characters who aren't very bright. One has no empathy for them or understanding of their failures in life. The characters are so pathetic that they can't even successfully rob a house without destroying it. Basically, one is left with the indelible impression that there is no real point to the movie. One has to guess that the point of the film was that these characters tried so hard to get out of their plights, but in the end failed. But without an in-depth understanding of what made these characters tick, this message was severally compromised. In the end, I felt that it was a movie that one could laugh a little at, but not really feel that it was memorable in any way.