A remake of
Pigeon by
Mario Monicelli, but set on the streets of San Francisco in a contemporary America instead of Italy in the '50s, this comedy about a conspiratorial heist of a greedy pawnbroker has excellent acting and good light fun but not much in the way of character motivation. Weslake (
Donald Sutherland) is unemployed and has reason to frequent the pawnshop of his money-hungry friend Garvey (
Jack Warden). People come and go around the shop (almost the only setting for the action): an aspiring musician of sorts (
Sean Penn), the eccentric meter-maid Maxine (
Christine Baranski), a safe-cracker (
Irwin Corey), and others. Then one day Weslake gets the idea to break into Garvey's safe and make off with a few valuables just for the fun of it. Everyone agrees, and the plot goes on unhindered by motivation or ethics. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide