does crime pay?

'Welcome to Collinwood" is like a Ealing Comedy directed by the Coen brothers. It is a gentle caper film set - very much on the wrong side of the tracks - in the fifties - in the district of Collinwood - which could be called - 'The Beirut of Cleveland'.

The first part of the film shows the setting up of a perfect robbery - in local parlance a 'Bellini' - the robbery of a pawnbroker's safe through a wall - that a builder had fixed - so that anyone could break through it easily. The nice thing about the robbery was that it was from an empty apartment.

But it quickly goes all wrong - as the search for a "Mullinski" - a person willing to serve time in prision for money - in order to get the man who knows the details of the 'Bellini' out. Soon a whole rag bag of likable 'riff raff' get in on the act. This early part of the film is quite quirky with quite a few twists and development of character - such as the guy reduced to painting women on beer glasses to support his baby - as the mother is in jail - for not paying a $1,000 fine.

I feel the cameo - by George Clooney - of the crippled safe breaker - was not necessary - but probably had to be in to help market the film. The scenes around him slowed the development of the film a little.

The robbery was pure farce - one of the funniest sequences I have seen - and it got roars of laughter from the audience. It will spoil the film to tell you what happens - but one scene has someone high as a kite on drugs crossing a very high pipe section to break into a roof on the next building and of course - another of the thieves - is petrified of heights.

The film has a strong 'feel good' ending. Do they succeed? - well spend your money and find out - don't get anyone to tell you the plot - it will spoil it for you - its an excellent film.

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