''Steal Big Steal Little'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Andrew Davis and starring

Andy García Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956), known professionally as Andy García, is a Cuban-born American actor, director and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's ''The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside ...

in dual roles. It also features

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

and

Joe Pantoliano Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 150 films, television and stage productions. After his early roles in the television series '' M*A*S*H'' and the 1983 comedy '' Risky Bu ...

Plot

Mild-mannered, unassuming Ruben Martinez has a slick, unscrupulous twin brother who now goes by the name Robby Martin. They were orphans raised by a rich landowner named Clifford Downey and his dancer wife, Mona Rowland-Downey. Upon her death, Mona leaves her entire ranch in Santa Barbara, California in the care of only one son, Ruben. The other brother begins plotting how to win control of the property away from his estranged twin. Ruben's main concern at the moment is that his wife Laura has left him. She cannot comprehend how her loving husband could have cheated on her with another woman. Ruben tracks her to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, where he meets used-car salesman Lou Perilli. He is assured that Laura will come back to him eventually. In the meantime, being pursued by a tough customer named Nick Zangaro about a debt he owes, Lou decides to make a quick getaway out west to Santa Barbara. Eddie Agopian, a family lawyer, is in charge of watching over Ruben's interests. But suddenly he disappears. Local authorities, including Sheriff Otis and a corrupt judge, have begun harassing Ruben and the dozens of workers and friends who live at the ranch. They are the stooges of powerful businessman Reed Tyler, who has business interests with Ruben's brother, Robby. Lou becomes a partner to the timid Ruben by promising to help him with his legal troubles. Lou has no lawyer experiences, but begins doing some investigating on Ruben's behalf and does the best he can in court. He also helps Ruben track down Eddie, who has absconded to Mexico with a stash of money. A scam is exposed, revealing to Laura that it was not her husband who had relations with another woman but Robby, his evil twin. Ruben, Laura and Lou quickly hatch a scheme of their own, catching the sheriff and judge in compromising positions and luring Robby into one with the help of a couple of young women hired for the occasion. The relationship between the brothers is healed a bit, if not completely, by the end as Ruben finds happiness at the ranch with his wide assortment of friends and family.

Cast

as Ruben Martinez/Robby Martin *

as Lou Perilli * Rachel Ticotin as Laura *

as Eddie Agopian *

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). ...

as Mona * Ally Walker as Bonnie Martin * Richard Bradford as Nick Zangaro *

David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in '' The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for fou ...

as Judge Myers *

Charles Rocket Charles Adams Claverie (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005), known by stage names Charlie Hamburger, Charlie Kennedy and Charles Rocket, was an American actor, comedian, musician, and television news reporter. He was a cast member on ''Saturda ...

as Sheriff Otis *

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...

as Reed Tyler *

Candice Daly Candice Mia Daly (January 4, 1966 – December 14, 2004) was an American film and television actress. In the late 1980s and early 1990s she starred in a number of B-movies and cult films such as '' After Death'' (1988) and '' Liquid Dreams'' ( ...

as Melissa

Reception

The film received poor reviews from critics and was a box office failure. It holds a rating of 15% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

Production

''Steal Big Steal Little'' was filmed on location at Rancho San Julian,

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

, California.

Home formats

After the film's theatrical release, HBO released the film onto VHS. In 2004, HBO released the film onto DVD. The DVD is now discontinued and as of March 29, 2010, neither HBO or Focus Features, the latter of which has begun to acquire some of Savoy's movies, has announced any plans to release a new DVD of the film. For these reasons, used copies of the original DVD have gone for as much as $35 online.

External links

* * * {{Andrew Davis 1995 films 1995 comedy films American comedy films Films about twin brothers Films directed by Andrew Davis Films scored by William Olvis Films set in Chicago Films set in Santa Barbara, California Savoy Pictures films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films