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And this is where the film gets on our nerves, because everything goes horribly, ludicrously wrong from the start. Some of this is quite hilarious, while other scenes make you roll your eyes in quiet desperation because it feels more like a silly movie device than part of the story. These are lowlife cartoon characters with little or no brains, not real people, so it's impossible to engage with them at all. We just sit back and watch, sometimes laugh, and enjoy the full range of humour from subtle wit to broad slapstick, with wry irony thrown in here and there. The dialog is great fun ("I need a Mullinski so I can pull my Bellini!" or "This Bellini is starting to look like a Kaputchnik!") and the big caper sequence is very wacky indeed. The Russo brothers keep the whole film finely tuned with excellent design work and vibrant music adding to the carefully constructed atmosphere. But they also abandon some of their best material (for example, Riley's omnipresent baby is screaming out for a serious gag, not just a moment of overwhelming cuteness). And to be honest, it's just not all that original, really.
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dir-scr Joe & Anthony Russo with William H Macy, Sam Rockwell, Isaiah Washington, Andrew Davoli, George Clooney, Michael Jeter, Luis Guzman, Patricia Clarkson, Jennifer Esposito, Gabrielle Union, David Warshofsky, Ray Calabrese release US 4.Oct.02;UK 25.Apr.03 Warners 02/US 1h25 Losers. Macy, Washington and, Rockwell play three seriously bumbling thieves...
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"Terrible! Don't waste your time on this." --Mark Higson, Fleetwood, Lancs 5.May.03 | ||||||
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