Words by MATT MAYTUM
Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you’ve been missing until you get the chance to sample it again. This supremely slick crime thriller is an emphatic reminder of the pleasures of smart, mainstream entertainment for grown-ups, playing in a cinema rather than episodically on the small screen. A theatrical staple for decades, this kind of star-powered vehicle has lost ground in multiplexes to franchise fare and IP with built-in awareness. But it’s good to have it back.
This film marks the fully fledged ‘fictional feature’ debut of writer/director Bart Layton, who previously made terrific fact/fiction-blending documentaries The Imposter and American Animals, the latter particularly blurring the lines as it intercuts between the real people involved in a university book heist and dramatic recreations. Though not based on a true story, Crime 101 – which is adapted from a novella by Don Winslow – has the rigour of a deeply researched undertaking. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry and Mark Ruffalo, whose narrative strands soon become entwined. Hemsworth is lone-wolf jewel thief Davis, whose MO is committing meticulously researched jobs along California’s 101 freeway. No one gets hurt, no trace of evidence remains. Detective Lou Lubesnick (Ruffalo) is working a theory that some of these robberies might be connected. Meanwhile, insurance broker Sharon (Berry) sells eye-wateringly high-value policies to extremely wealthy clients, in return for little to no respect from colleagues at her firm.
This trio will soon be on a collision course catalysed by wild card crim Ormon (Barry Keoghan, reuniting with Layton after American Animals), who lobs a spanner in the works by taking on a job that Davis deemed too risky. Working with A-list and Oscar-celebrated talent, Layton seems to be a natural at eliciting top-end performances. Hemsworth tamps down his superhero rizz to play the nomadic thief living without any real social connection, and his Marvel ‘friend from work’ Ruffalo is compelling as ever as a stretched-thin cop whose obsessive nature is wrecking his homelife. Berry – in her most gratifying role for some time – gets to dig beneath the surface glamour as a woman coming to see with clarity how her experience and intelligence is being overlooked. Keoghan, meanwhile, is the firecracker popping off chaotically.
Adding to the sheen of class is the fact that even minor supporting roles are filled with significant talent – Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Corey Hawkins – and Monica Barbaro makes the most of limited screentime in Maya, a love interest who cracks Davis’ hermetically sealed shell. It’s also edited with confidence by Jacob Secher Schulsinger and Julian Hart, the separate story strands blended skilfully and often overlapping before you’ve even realised it. It all drives towards a satisfying conclusion that makes good on the build-up’s promise. And while there is a focus on character in this somewhat grounded world, there are a couple of impressively muscular, plot-serving car chases to get the adrenaline pumping, and the whole thing is shot sharply (with some innovative vehicle mounts) by DoP Erik Wilson. The pulsing electronic score by Blanck Mass also sets off the tone nicely.
Michael Mann’s Heat and Thief are clear touchstones, as is William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., and while it’s practically impossible for any new film to live up to those genre titans, it sure is enjoyable seeing someone giving it a go.
Pictures courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Crime 101 opens in cinemas on 13 February
