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Oscar

Oscar

Comedy · Crime · 1991

Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.

Movie details

Oscar

“In crime and comedy, timing is everything.”

1991 Comedy · Crime 1h 49m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Oscar?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Johnny Dangerously

Johnny Dangerously

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Bandits

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Fun with Dick and Jane

Fun with Dick and Jane

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Welcome to Collinwood

Welcome to Collinwood

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Five hapless inner-city low-lifes attempt to burgle a pawnbroker's safe, but end up being plagued by bad luck.

Tough Guys

Tough Guys

Comedy · 1986

Harry Doyle and Archie Lang are two old-time train robbers, who held up a train in 1956 and have been incarcerated for thirty years. After serving their time, they are released from jail and have to adjust to a new life of freedom. and soon realize that they still have the pizzazz when, picking up their prison checks at a bank, they foil a robbery attempt.

The Comeback Trail

The Comeback Trail

Comedy · 2020

Two movie producers who owe money to the mob set up their aging movie star for an insurance scam to try and save themselves. But they wind up getting more than they ever imagined.

The Ladykillers

The Ladykillers

Comedy · 2004

An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord – a sharp old woman.

Get Shorty

Get Shorty

Comedy · 1995

Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.

The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club

Comedy · 2025

A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.

The Other Guys

The Other Guys

Comedy · 2010

Unlike their heroic counterparts on the force, desk-bound NYPD detectives Gamble and Hoitz garner no headlines as they work day to day. When a seemingly minor case turns out to be a big deal, the two cops get the opportunity to finally prove to their comrades that they have the right stuff.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Landis

Written by

Michael Barrie · Jim Mulholland

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

Angelo "Snaps" Provolone

Marisa Tomei

Marisa Tomei

Lisa Provolone

Vincent Spano

Vincent Spano

Anthony Rossano

Ornella Muti

Ornella Muti

Sofia Provolone

Tim Curry

Tim Curry

Dr. Thornton Poole

Peter Riegert

Peter Riegert

Aldo

Chazz Palminteri

Chazz Palminteri

Connie

Court is in session

Put Oscar on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.