Welcome to Collinwood

Ive just watched this film for the first time and am amazed by all the bad reviews. I thought it was class! Ok so its no Oceans Eleven, but the actors are fantastic and what could be better then watching amateur con-men get it completely wrong! Michael Jeter in particular, is a breath of fresh air, and shows just how much he's going to be missed in Hollywood!!! Sam Rockwell provides the eye-candy but also shows his versatility as an actor producing some of the high and low moments perfectly! George Clooney is fab as the safe hacker, although i'd love to have seen more of him (Im sure most would agree), and the rest of the ensemble are perfect in there own little ways! Id recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed Matchstick Men! Loved it!

This movie was recommended to me by a friend. I never saw an ad or a trailer, so I didn't know Clooney was in it and was not bothered by the fact that his role was so small. I thought the whole cast was suitable, and found the film pretty enjoyable, all in all. The opening scene, with the small crew of bandits standing at the side of the road, looking whipped and haggard, caught my attention immediately. It had a way of telling you, "don't go away; this won't be boring", and it really wasn't. It turned out to be an interesting, light-hearted comedy with enough twists and turns to keep you in your seat to the very end, but when the ending did arrive, I felt a little bit cheated....just a little bit. The events kept building up so that you expect them to continue building, but at a point that I can't define, it sort of levels out, making the ending a slight disappointment. I reckon I expected a bigger bang of a climax, but it turned out sort of low-key. If you watch the movie with that in mind and you can live without high dosages of George Clooney, you should find this flick very entertaining and well worth watching. Now I'd like to see the original (Big Deal on Madonna Street), but it's probably a rare find in the United States.

Sam Rockwell chalks up yet another affable, loopy criminal characterization. With "Safe Men", "Jerry and Tom", "The Heist" and later "Matchstick Men" this is becoming something of an expertise. To his credit, each time it's a winning act. Let's just hope he's not typecasting himself since Rockwell is clearly capable of a lot more.

With him are a band of equally oddball would be criminals, played terrifically by all with William H. Macy and Patricia Clarkson particularly on target. Then there's also George Clooney in a very funny cameo.

As with most caper movies, one does not ask for more than to be well entertained and this "Welcome to Collinwood" certainly succeeds in doing.

It's shameful that egotistic, pretentious film geeks need to rip apart remakes claiming that they can't possibly live up to the foreign originals upon which they are based. Foreign movies never translate and those that believe they are fantastic are likely only convincing themselves that is true. That said, I had no idea "Collinwood" was a remake and, regardless, thought it was surprisingly funny, well acted (the cast was phenomenal led by Sam Rockwell's perfectly funny lead) and just a good watch. Was is high handed film noir? No. Should it have won an award? No. Was is an enjoyable hour and change. Absolutely. Clooney, as always, was great in a limited, albeit offbeat role. Macy was fantastic. Michael Jeter was a tour de force as the old dude with the dirty shorts. And Luis Guzman was absolutely hysterical. It's a good watch regardless of what the pompous elite film police think. Check it out.

It takes my breath away to see some of the uptight and/or pretentious "reviews" of this very funny film that are on this site. "No character depth"? "Weak plot"? Is there a class these people take, called "THE POINT, AND HOW TO MISS IT"??? It's just a well-shot, well-written, well-acted slapstick heist film, for goodness sake - and the characters are SUPPOSED to be shallow idiots! It tells you that on the video cover! Were the characters in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" deeply developed? And was that not a GREAT film, or did I miss something? I strongly suggest that anyone who is simply after a good laugh should watch this film, and that those who seek high art in everything they see should either learn to relax a bit, or spare the rest of us their tedious opinions! Sheesh...