Crime 101 Review
This Heat-lite crime thriller looks good, but with a heist that never feels really complex or earned, never really bites.
Davis (Chris Hemsworth) is an elusive thief, whose heists are on the radar of detective Lou (Mark Ruffalo) - who believes he has identified him as the architect behind a string of highly planned, and completely without violence, robberies along the 101 in LA. But while Davis plans his final heist, aided by an encounter with insurance agent Sharon (Halle Berry), and Lou closes in for the kill, plans are complicated by an unpredictable competitor - the crazy, dirtbike riding Ormon (Barry Keoghan).
Crime 101, which - for what it's worth - is a really bad title for this film, has all the hallmarks of something that could have been a great crime thriller. The only thing it doesn’t have, is a good crime.
Hemsworth, in a somewhat emotionless performance whose moments of convincing engagement are the exception, not the norm, moves his way through this plodding crime procedural in a convincing enough manner to keep you somewhat interested. Ruffalo, meanwhile, does his best - which is more than enough - with scant material, and Halle Berry really has to work to bring any depth to her character. The movie in general feels like it was shot in an office block on Rodeo Drive; a kind of soulless and unenthused visual palette, with a lead character who gives discount Limitless with none of the charm. A post-bio hacking anti-hero for the crypto age.
The one standout is Barry Keoghan as the foil. Keoghan has an energy and an intensity to him that shines past the terrible dye job, and that brings an unpredictable energy to the sequences he is in, while also levelling up those scenes he and Hemsworth share.
Overall, this all wouldn’t be that much of a problem, if there was a strong story here. But there isn’t. The ultimate heist falls into the lead characters lap at the end, is undercut by his source, and leads to a convenient wrapped in a bow ending that feels completely unearned. Outside of a good first set piece, the film only heists twice - once when Keoghan just rampages into a jewellers and the other in this convoluted, unthought final sequence. Oceans 11, or Den of Thieves, this is not.
This movie is strong counterprogramming for its competitor - the shock as the goal Wuthering Heights, and for crowds looking, aching, dying for more smart, grown up heist movies, it’s a thrill to get to see a competent one done. But there was a much better movie here. Hell even Netflix’s The Rip was head and shoulders above this in terms of plot complexity and performance, and it just leads you to wonder why that hit a streamer and this is on cinema screens.
Ultimately, while you may be hoping for a bit of a thinker, this ends up being a pretty forgettable crime thriller that never hits its stride.
