Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958, Mario Monicelli) (Patreon)

65/100

Second viewing, last seen 2000. Vaguely recall being slightly disappointed then, and it's entirely possible that my having subsequently quite enjoyed Welcome to Collinwood paved the way for a better appreciation of the original (even if my favorite aspect of Collinwood—the made-up lingo, Bellinis and Mullinskis and whatnot—has no '58 analogue, assuming that the English subtitles aren't just omitting one). The key is recognizing from the outset that we're mean to get invested in the ensemble, not the robbery, thereby making it sting a little when Gassman's character asks Mastroianni's about future plans, as they head home from their failure, and he replies, in essence, "Forget you know me." Same sad denouement as The Breakfast Club! And while I'm making offbeat comparisons (though this one's less of a stretch), the final scene, in which Peppe joins the wrong crowd while fleeing the cops and winds up propelled into the workforce against his will, calls to mind Henry Hill at the close of GoodFellas, disgusted by the prospect of living out the rest of his life like a schnook. Oh, and I also flashed on Big Night's lovely, low-key conclusion as our antiheroes make the best of things with a hastily improvised meal. I seem to be convincing myself that Big Deal lives up to its title more as a major influence on other films I love than as a classic to be relished for its own sake—always a potential pitfall when assessing work that predates you. Fact is, though, that I still find this lightly agreeable rather than uproarious, and now can't help but compare Gassman, who seems oddly miscast, to Sam Rockwell, who's damn near perfect as a boxer with delusions of grandeur. (William H. Macy has more fun being flustered by the baby, too; Mastroianni, who was then just in the process of becoming a huge star, never quite finds the character, in my opinion.) Same rating for both versions, so call it a draw. Been over 30 years since I saw Crackers, and I highly doubt that it would fare nearly as well.