"Crackers" has to be one of the coolest and unusual films on Louis Malle extensive career, which goes from "Elevator to the Gallows" to "Vanya on 42th Street" with masterpieces such as "Goodbye Children" and "Atlantic City". Here, he tells the story of a group of misfits who work or spend some time to score some money on a pawnshop led by greedy Garvey (Jack Warden). They are poor and desperatly broke trying to do weird jobs or just going from scheme to scheme until the wisest of them all Weslake (Donald Sutherland) invites to break into the safety vault from the place when Garvey's out visiting his mom. They are played by Sean Penn, Larry Riley, Trinidad Silva and Wallace Shawn and they all play in a cool fashion as this bunch of low-life characters who might finally find their place in the sun with lots of money or whatever is in the safe.

Some people see the movie as a social commentary on America's economical situation with this group of odd men trying to make it big with the score of the century, where the poor take advantage of the wealthy one. I don't go that far because the movie plays it simple and safe as an adventure comedy, without making any political statements. It's just humor of the best quality. Those guys have limited imagination, pros and cons but somehow they make it like regular joes of whom we feel empathy and we like them in the way they are. Wheter Sutherland plays the smart lead, Penn plays the charming dude who wants to date Ramon's sister; and Shawn doesn't talk much but only keeps thinking on how to score some free food, they're all interesting and cool to see how they conduct things until the highly expected robbery (which is hilarious, when they met several challenges on the way.

I loved their routines, the movie takes its time to develop and we have the opportunity to get to know all of them and other characters as well (like the police officer Maxine, funny role for Christine Baranski),to live with them in that small town where they keep bumping on each other in several ways. "Crackers" has a fine sense of humor and goes as a near perfect comedy, a terrain Mr. Malle hardly ever explored. It was a different experience for him, who at first thought he was the wrong man for the job but in the end he came to enjoy the experience. It's an enjoyable movie and one that entertains a lot, undeserving of its low ratings and low audience viewers. Criminally underrated.

And it's another case of a movie that is so good, with many great characters that I could imagine it as being a TV series. I'd certainly watch that. 9/10.

While this does have some funny moments, all I could think of as I got into it was "why"? Why was the original remade? Why are they so desperate to break into Jack Warden's pawn shop (especially since a couple of them seem to hang out there),and why is Christine Baranski such an obvious nymphomaniac, especially since she seems to be pretty active with boyfriend Donald Sutherland? Why does rocker Sean Penn you seem like such a total geek, and why does his best pal Trinidad Silva become so desperate to keep Penn away from his sister, Tasia Valenza? And last but not least, why does Silva's character never laugh or crack a smile, yet seem so desperate for approval?

There was a lot of potential in this remake, but for some reason, all the ingredients do not come together and this collection of oddballs seems more there to collect their paycheck than to really deliver a good movie. Baranski is quite different in this then pretty much anything else I've seen her in, not as upscale as roles she played from "Reversal of Fortune" on, and she's always fun to watch. Penn is desperately trying to get away from his Spicolli character, but Spicolli had better development than his character does here.

The best moments go to Wallace Shawn, quite subtle as a homeless man who hangs around the pawn shop, seems to know everybody and gets involved in everybody's business. He's always looking for food, and when we see him in his little shack of a shelter seems to be making stew of every type of food he has left.

There are also some cute moments with Larry Riley and the adorable Charlayne Woodard, and when they ain't misbehavin', they're stealing the scenery. Unfortunately, the script and direction by Louis Malle is off kilter here so you really are perplexed by the missing ingredients that could have spiced it up. I give it an average rating (which means it ain't bad),but it's barely above that level and only there because of the cast and the run down area of San Francisco where this takes place where movie cameras rarely go.

While most sane adults will find this movie pointless and without any merits,I still would like to point out a great deal of movies released to this day are far more repugnant...This movie features Sean Penn in his pre-Madonna youth,and Sutherland in his prime.OK,I admit that as a 10 year old boy,I fondly recall watching this movie over and over and over again on HBO....I suppose dozens of screenings,along with a nostalgia for one's childhood memories can make even Ishtar great..Nevertheless,the final 30 minutes are quite entertaining,with a pretty good ending.The love stories can drag out in this type of movie,and do.