Crackers (Blu-ray)

From Louis Malle, the acclaimed director of Elevator to the Gallows, Viva Maria!, Atlantic City, Au Revoir les Enfants and Vanya on 42nd Street, comes this wonderful remake of the classic Italian comedy caper Big Deal on Madonna Street, starring Donald Sutherland (Klute), Sean Penn (Mystic River), Jack Warden (Billy Two Hats), Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre) and Christine Baranski (TV’s The Good Fight). Crackers features a bunch of crazy, off-the-wall characters who would buy the American Dream... if only they could afford the down payment! There’s Weslake (Sutherland), out of work but never short of hope; Boardwalk (Larry Riley), a pimp with a heart of gold and a baby; Ramon (Trinidad Silva), a part-time electrician who specializes in hot-wiring cars; Dillard (Penn), a permanent resident of outer space; Turtle (Shawn), a little guy with a big appetite; and Maxine (Baranski), a diligent meter maid who’s on the make. They’re all “customers” of Melvin Garvey’s (Warden), whose pawn shop holds the answer to their prayers... the gold at the end of the rainbow. With the right direction, they might bungle their way to success... if just one of them knew where they were going! Screenplay by Jeffrey Alan Fiskin (Cutter’s Way, The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper) with gorgeous on-location San Francisco cinematography by the great László Kovács (Easy Rider, Paper Moon).