Crime 101

OVERVIEW

Adapted from Don Winslow’s novella, Crime 101 follows an ultra-professional jewel thief who seems impossible to track until a detective spots a pattern: the hits keep happening along Highway 101. With one last, biggest score in sight, the thief’s plan pulls in a sharp insurance broker who has ties to both hunter and hunted. From there, it becomes a cat-and-mouse pursuit with obvious echoes of Heat and 1990s adult action thrillers.

BACKGROUND

The film is directed by Bart Layton, an English filmmaker whose work often centers on moral dilemmas: why good people cross the line, how they justify it, and the consequences of their actions. After the success of his indie film, the smartly constructed American Animals, he built enough goodwill that, paired with the throwback script, helped him secure a big budget and an A-list cast to deliver what is basically his modern spin on Michael Mann’s classic.

THE REVIEW

The effort to evoke the spirit of an LA crime-film throwback is clear and largely successful. Practical effects, patient, character-focused pacing, and Erik Wilson’s evocative cinematography give it the feel of a grown-up studio thriller, which is increasingly rare in theaters. This is the kind of genre filmmaking that has been pushed to streaming, even though it plays best on a big screen, and the film earns its IMAX release. The tradeoff is that it rarely surprises, staying firmly within familiar boundaries, and unlike American Animals, it does not reach for an extra layer of depth.

Its biggest accomplishment is the multi-character structure, which keeps the lengthy film moving with confidence as it shifts focus across the ensemble. It is a true ensemble piece, with three lead characters and two pivotal supporting performances, all given enough time to develop. It borrows a page from Michael Mann and from the ensemble rhythm of Scorsese’s The Departed, where characters will drop out for a while as someone else takes over for a solid 20-minute stretch, and it still flows with precision while building steadily toward the convergence point.

It is all helped by Jacob Secher Schulsinger and Julian Hart’s editing, which keeps the rhythm moving with inventive, sometimes hilarious, match cuts. They turn a line or a glance into an instant visual answer. Someone asks about an ideal meal, and the film cuts straight to another character eating a hamburger. Small touches of visual humor, like seeing Mark Ruffalo’s lone male arm among an all-female yoga class, show a level of wit that is not often found in films at this scale.

All of that craft is in service of a pretty by-the-book script and character work. Chris Hemsworth plays Mike as the familiar competent pro, socially awkward and not far from what he has done in Blackhat and Extraction. He is by far the film’s least interesting aspect. The writing gives him a standard sad backstory, which it doesn’t bother to explore beyond “terrible men” made his life miserable. Mark Ruffalo, as Det. Lou Lubesnick, is also playing on brand, but his weary, obsessive detective has more texture, and Ruffalo slips in plenty of dry humor, as he usually does.

The film’s real center is Halle Berry’s Sharon, a smart broker who finds herself torn between doing the right thing after a lifetime of being betrayed and punished for it. Monica Barbaro plays Mike’s love interest and brings real charisma, somehow making the romance work and even making Mike easier to care about.

The only unpredictable player is Barry Keoghan as Ormon, who leans into a very Keoghan-y role, with childish traits and violent impulses that make him dangerous every time he is on screen. The character lacks much complexity or backstory, but Keoghan fills in the gaps, and he ends up as the best part of the film. Nick Nolte shows up in what is basically a cameo and does solid work, where his presence matters more than the performance itself.

It is all scored by a generic electronic score from Blanck Mass, the kind that could be swapped instantly with thousands of other anonymous film scores. The days when movies like this came with a memorable theme that elevated the whole experience feel long gone. It only sparks to life around Keoghan’s scenes, including the mid-film car chase, where a processed, glitchy cue gives the well-mounted sequence some welcome personality.

Where the film falls short is in what it wants to say. Layton circles similar questions to American Animals, but here the film reduces them to basic statements that can be easily summarized as “the people at the top are bad.” Aside from the thrilling opening sequence, it could also have used a few more suspenseful moments.
A later pivotal car conversation, in particular, is what the film has been building toward, but it fails to make the impact it wants.

FINAL THOUGHTS

By the end, Crime 101 is a solid crime thriller that once again proves Bart Layton is a reliable, confident filmmaker. There is nothing particularly impressive about it, and its themes should have gone further, but as a throwback to 90s LA crime thrillers, it is accomplished thanks to its cast and craft.

At a glance

3.5/5

Worth your time

Where to watch

Prime VideoPrime Video

Trailer

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