Crackers (1984): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1984, Crackers is an action, comedy and crime film directed by Louis Malle, running about 98 minutes. “The Comedy that dreams the impossible scheme!” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Garvey is a San Francisco pawnshop operator. His unemployed and criminal friends Dillard, Turtle and Weslake, team up with Boardwalk, a local pimp, to burgle Garvey's shop while the owner is out of town. During the elaborate planning process, Dillard falls for a Hispanic woman, the sister of a friend. Boardwalk is assigned to case a local apartment, where he meets and falls for the maid. Amidst all these romantic hijinks, Weslake puts together a burglary plan, which is executed by the makeshift gang.

Who’s in it. Crackers stars Donald Sutherland as Westlake, Jack Warden as Garvey, Sean Penn as Dillard and Wallace Shawn as Turtle, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 4.6/10, Crackers has proved divisive with audiences. It went on to earn $129.3K at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Crackers page.

If you liked it. Fans of Crackers tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.