‘Crime 101’ Review

With its generic thriller title and whichever-Marvel-star-we-can-get casting, ‘Crime 101’ seems to have been set up as some straight to streaming action slop, something that would be inoffensive and forgettable, even as it racks up viewing minutes from people half-watching while doing laundry.

And yet director Bart Layton has created a much more interesting movie, with a distinct perspective and thematic curiosity, such that even as it never fully delivers on all of its storytelling ambition, it stands apart as a compelling, idiosyncratic crime thriller.

The film opens with its best heist, as Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), follows a courier to a remote location and robs him of millions of dollars worth of diamonds. This scene lays out perfectly the character and his methods – he is patient and meticulous, he possesses deep knowledge of the people he is robbing, and he is nonviolent to a fault. After barely escaping this initial heist, Mike begins having second thoughts about his life in crime, but the promise for ever greater riches keeps him going back for more.

As Mike reflects on when enough is enough, he finds himself caught up in various cat and mouse games that he only scarcely understands. His fence (Nick Nolte), questions Mike’s commitment, and hires a violent psychopath (Barry Keoghan) to take over Mike’s role in the organization. Meanwhile, Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), is convinced that the series of robberies committed along the 101 freeway is the work of one master criminal, and thus is pursuing Mike with tireless devotion. And a stagnating insurance broker (Halle Berry) questions whether a life of crime would be preferable to the years she has lost toiling at a company that has no intention of promoting her.

Working from a Don Winslow novella, Bart Layton uses Los Angeles as an enthralling setting: a city in which all of these characters are stuck – stuck in their jobs, stuck in their personal lives, or just stuck in traffic. Every character is given a distinct backstory, and Layton does a wonderful job establishing each individual character and their personal motivations set in a world where everybody, on every rung of the economic ladder, is trying the best they can to get ahead, with means legal or otherwise.

Unfortunately, while these rich themes and compelling characters are introduced, they are never fully explored in a satisfactory manner. At almost 2.5 hours long, ‘Crime 101’ falls victim to an unwillingness to kill its darlings, trying to juggle so much character that it ends up dropping all of the balls.

My initial impulse was to say Chris Hemsworth is miscast in the lead role, and yet the more I consider it the more I believe he did the best he could with a poorly developed character. In some scenes, Mike is bumbling and socially inept, unable to relate to other human beings, and then in other scenes he’s the most charming man alive, à la Steve McQueen in ‘The Thomas Crowne Affair’.

Much like its protagonist, ‘Crime 101’ is frustratingly uneven throughout. Some of the action sequences are riveting, while others are underwhelming; some of the characters get satisfying arcs, while others feel forgotten about altogether.

Beyond Hemsworth, the rest of the cast is strong, even as it often feels like trite typecasting, with Mark Ruffalo playing yet another good hearted but slobby investigator and Barry Keoghan being another Barry Keoghan weirdo. Both of these performers, and the entire cast, deliver in their respective roles, but it’s never surprising or interesting given that you’ve seen them play variations on these people again and again.

Director Bart Layton does his best Michael Mann impression, with intriguing thematic choices and style to spare, but ‘Crime 101’ unfortunately leaves too much meat on the bone, not delivering as much as it could, with a too-tidy ending that leaves the movie feeling strangely both overlong and underdeveloped.

Crime 101
Rated R for language throughout, some violence, and sexual material/nudity.
Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Director Bart Layton
Writers Bart Layton
Stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Halle Berry
Rating R
Running Time 140 Minutes
Genres Crime, Drama, Thriller