'Crime 101' Lacks a Solid Case
In thriller 101, you need to keep your audience engaged. Does Co-Writer/Director Bart Layton accomplish that? Mostly. Crime 101 is a fan film of early Michal Mann flicks like Heat, with little unique spin. The film features captivating editing, shiny cinematography, and decent acting, yet it feels like it's missing something. It might be the element of surprise. The story is pretty basic. A thief tries to rob something, but something goes wrong on the job, so he tries to cover all of his bases, while someone who’s not even a cop or robber gets trapped in the crossfire. These elements have been tried many times before, and it’s obvious what the outcome will be. When the movie reaches its final moments, it feels more formulaic than truly climactic.
The film starts with a thrilling opening. We hear a calming voice speaking about finding inner peace while chaos plays on-screen. It makes for a great intro and trailer moment. From the get-go, we see that the thief, Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), is not a bad person. He’s just a poor guy who got wrapped up with bad people. Davis is given a golden opportunity at one point during the movie’s opening heist to squeeze off a kill. But he doesn’t do it. After evading the cops, Davis hyperventilates and doesn’t act cool. He’s personally affected by violence like any rational person would be.
It’s too bad the film isn’t more focused on Hemsworth’s character because the others are pretty bland. Halle Berry, for instance, plays an insurance broker whose life is put in danger as she has to account for the MacGuffin. Her character in the story doesn’t feel natural. She goes from selfish to selfless almost in an instant, which is odd given that this film runs two hours and twenty minutes.
Then there’s the cop played by Mark Ruffalo. The only pudgy vegetarian you’ll ever meet. Lou’s arc isn’t interesting. He’s merely a straight-shooting cop who smokes through tons of cigarettes and collects details on the case. So he’s basically any cop from any movie. Considering how this movie reaches Tarantino levels of homage to Michael Mann films, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Ruffalo was cast because he played a detective in Collateral.
It’s not like the director is trying to hide his affinity for films like Heat. Even Chris Hemsworth’s beach house is a nod to Val Kilmer's place in Heat. Plus, the love story in the film breaks up the action, as in Mann’s classics. Except in this film, the relationship doesn’t seem believable. Only hot people can hook up from fend benders. Not normal-looking folks.
The film is problematic in its focus. Ruffalo and Berry’s characters hog up too much screen time. The only one who held my attention was Chris Hemsworth. He’s intentionally mysterious. Yet a little more insight into his troubled background would have given the story something more to go on. It would have also been nice to know a bit more about Barry Keoghan’s character as well, so we can see why he’s such a dumb, crazy, violent little twirp. The movie is avoiding backstory so we can just focus on the main heist, but what if the heist isn’t all that interesting? Spoiler, it’s not.
The movie is about some stolen jewels. Then, the setup for a bigger heist. The details regarding who finds which character get muddled by multiple left turns in the plot, which ultimately lead to a predictable destination. If the film wanted some real weight, let there be consequences. Heat works because we can see how exhausted its characters are. We see them make obvious mistakes under pressure, and their inability to adapt to the barbecues and ballgames of everyday life leads to their demise.
Here, it seems like there are very few consequences. Bart Layton tries hard to pull off a memorable multilayered thriller, but it’s merely okay and forgettable. The film is so riddled with plot details that you can miss that you’re encouraged to see the movie again to put all the pieces of the case together. Unfortunately, the film lacks the excitement for multiple viewings.
