Director: Bart Layton
Writers: Bart Layton, Don Winslow
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry
Synopsis: An elusive thief, eyeing his final score, encounters a disillusioned insurance broker at her own crossroads. As their paths intertwine, a relentless detective trails them hoping to thwart the multi-million dollar heist they are planning.
Bart Layton has had a pretty interesting career as a director so far. His sleek styled visuals and their thrilling elements go together like Crystal hot sauce and catfish. In his third film, Crime 101, Layton sets up a chessboard full of characters that are going through the motions of everyday life and wanting to stay true to themselves while being presented with opportunities that could change their lives for the better or ultimately, for the worst. Today in a lot of action movies we get over-the-top action, pretty faced actors, ugly visual effects, and nostalgic ‘80s and ‘90s music. Luckily, Layton decides that none of those things are needed for his picture. He transports us back to a time where crime films were dark, suspenseful, and relied on good acting and an interesting story.
In the beginning, we’re introduced to our protagonist, Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth). He’s a professional jewel thief that’s very detail oriented in his heists. He performs a body hygiene routine before going out into the field, does the proper recon on his subjects, and makes sure that no one in the heists is physically hurt. Mike enjoys having money from the robberies that he commits but he doesn’t flaunt his wealth. He doesn’t buy lavish cars and flashy outfits. He’s a plain jane kind of dude that enjoys living comfortably. Throughout Hemsworth’s career we’ve seen him play mercenaries, Norse Gods, car drivers, and even Optimus freakin Prime. Mike Davis is nothing like any of the roles and that’s why I really enjoyed him in the movie. You could say that he got inspiration from James Dean in Bullitt and maybe even Val Kilmer in Heat.
Mike doesn’t leave much for police to really investigate after the robberies because of his caution. He’s been committing robberies all over the 101 freeway. Cops have given up and moved on from the case, but there’s one detective that won’t stop pushing himself to find the culprit and that’s Lou Lubsenick (Mark Ruffalo). Ruffalo has played a ton of characters in law enforcement so it’s safe to say that he has this particular role down pat. There’s a cliche detective story with Lou that a lot of crime thrillers can’t let go of, he’s getting divorced and facing a midlife crisis. He’s chosen his work life over his spouse played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, a great all in a day’s work performance from her. Lou also catches strays at work. His colleagues are constantly clowning him about him not holding his own weight as a veteran detective. Even Lou’s partner Tillman (Corey Hawkins) thinks that he should retire and spend his time on the beach with a new girl by his side. Lou doesn’t want to go out like that so he drags Tillman up and down the 101 to see what clues he can find.
In the second act, we are introduced to a woman named Maya (Monica Barbaro) during a small traffic accident she has with Mike. He tries to pay her off with cold hard cash but she wants to handle this through the proper channels. They go out on a date, he invites her over to his house and they share an emotional and romantic connection with each other. I’ve only seen Barbaro in Top Gun: Maverick but I have to say that she’s so damn charming and comforting in this movie. In the little screen time she has, she wins over the audience with her voice, personality, and her lack of ulterior motives for being in a relationship with Mike. As time passes, Mike starts to let his guard down and opens up to Maya about his past, even if only for a moment. As his feelings for her start to grow, he decides that it’s time to do one more job and then leave his life as a professional thief for good.
The queen on our chessboard is Sharon, played by the prominent Halle Berry. Sharon is an insurance broker. She makes sure that rich people have the best insurance on their most expensive possessions. She’s one of the top earners in her firm and she’s constantly being told by her bosses that she’s up for a partner position. She’s committed most of her life to her work and, as an audience member, I could relate to that feeling of working at a job for so long and not having much to show for it. She prides herself on being a good employee by protecting her clients. Halle’s performance could possibly be seen as mirroring her own real life profession as an actress. At one point, she has a conversation with her manager about her halted promotion. He tells her that she can’t just leave their firm because she’s 53 and that nobody wants to work with an old woman. In a lot of industries, older women are treated as disposable and that no one will work with them because of their age. This sets the events for the third act into motion. She teams up with Mike for the ultimate score so that she can stick it to her coworkers and her entitled clients.
Aside from these characters, we’re introduced to a young thief played by Barry Keoghan. He commits crimes for the thrill of it and some of his actions put Hemsworth’s Mike in a tight situation that could make his whole career come tumbling down. I know that A LOT of people will compare this film to the classic crime dramas such as Heat and Thief. In my experience with those films and Crime 101 I think this has more to offer in the characters’ dialogue, their motivations, and what the story says about a lot of the rich people in America. A lot of rich people are greedy, like to flaunt what they have and they don’t contribute anything of value to society. Layton’s script from Don Winslow’s 60 page book adds a lot more to the story and it fleshes out the characters that are already in the novel. Sadly, the down sides of this movie are some pacing issues and the little amount of action with guns and hand-to-hand combat. Favorably, this movie has good performances from its cast, good cinematography, and thrilling set pieces. Put this movie on with Top Gun: Maverick and you’ll have a dad movie night that will go over great with family and friends.
