Crime 101…the lesson for this movie should be don’t try and copy other great crime movies especially one set in LA such as Heat. But if you’re going to rip off another cry movie then you might as well at least do a good one, but at the end of the day this is just a B-Quality carbon copy of Michael Mann’s Heat that came out in 1995. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’re probably already suspecting it to be similar…well, the filmmakers rip off every trope from that great crime movie and try to pass it off as something original and that’s extremely sad considering there’s a great cast in Crime 101. Now before I completely tear into this movie and tell you why it’s bad, there were some things I liked about it. Not many, but a few good things. Crime 101 is a story about a Jewel thief who is careful and methodical and is being tracked by a hard-nosed LA detective whose theory about this thief, no one believes. It’s a cat-and-mouse game between a detective trying to bring down one of the most elusive thieves in LA and a thief Just taking down scores but doesn’t want to hurt anybody…does that sound familiar!!! Clearly the writer and director Bart Layton watched a lot of crime movies especially Michael Mann films and instead of coming up with something original, decided to copy good crime movies that somebody else already made. The story is based off a novel, but I don’t know how close the screenplay is to the original book. I just know that this film is a rip-off of other great crime movies.
Here’s what the movie has going for it. The cast is good. Chris Hemsworth is magnetic and delivers a good performance despite poor material. Mark Ruffalo plays a great LA Detective. Halle Berry does a good job with what she’s given in the material. But not even three great actors can save this movie. The cinematography is really good and one of the bright spots of the film. They capture LA well, but unfortunately, it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before in other movies. The cat-and-mouse game between the detective and the thief does work especially when they’re having a conversation about Steve McQueen movies. You sympathize with both characters the same way you would sympathize with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s characters in Heat, but that’s as good as it gets. I would have liked this movie a lot more if it weren’t so long. It’s nearly 2.5 hours and that’s 40 minutes way too long. As bad as Zack Snyder is with slow motion shots that makes his movies longer than they should be, there’s a lot of unnecessary and slow scenes that drag this movie out before we get to any real action. Even moments that were we’re supposed to emotionally connect us to the characters and their motivations feel unoriginal. Like the thief finding a girl that he could run away with…yeah, I know, not original, but even still we should feel more for these characters, and we never do unlike other crime movies where there’s always a girl that gives a sense of morality to the thief. Heat did that very well. The Town did that well. Point break did that very well…this movie, not so much!
Maybe crime Movies are played out. I think the last grade crime movie that went all out and felt original probably was Ben Affleck’s the Town. Then again, Hell or High water and Sicario written by Taylor Sheridan are great movies and feel original. I could even throw Wind River in there…another Taylor Sheridan gem. But Crime 101 is another prime example of how crime movies aren’t really that original anymore, especially when you do one in LA, it’s too hard not to copy Heat. Over 30 years later, that seems to be the blueprint for every great crime movie where there’s a cop who will get his man and a thief that we can root for. But all the examples I gave are movies that not only have great characters, great action, but the pacing is almost perfect. Heat is a movie that doesn’t even feel like it’s 3 hours despite it being nearly 3 hours. It’s clear and concise and it’s storytelling. Crime 101 is a 90-minute movie at best that was stretched out for another hour to try and give us an emotional connection that isn’t there.
I do like the ending where everything seems to be settled for the main characters, but even that feels too familiar. I won’t get into spoilers. I will simply say this…don’t see this movie in theaters. Save your money and just watch it on Amazon. If you’re going to have to see a movie that’s Just way too long, like ant Martin Scorsese film in the last 10 years then you might as well be sitting at home when trying to get through it. Chris Hemsworth is good in crime movies…in fact he made a decent one that was directed by Michael Mann called Blackhat It’s not a great hacking movie, but the movie is better than it should be because it’s a Michael Mann Film. He’s just poorly used in Crime 101…It’s not his fault when you have a director that’s basically making a glorified fan film of other great crime movies. If you want my advice, save yourself the time and just watch Heat again or a dozen other great crime movies that are way better than this movie. And Hollywood Studios …I implore you, stop making movies that are just copies of other great crime movies…I know there’s not much originality left, but if you’re going to spend money to make a movie, make something original. That’s what fans really want, or we’ll just keep going back and watching the movies we love that always entertain us. Crime 101 will never be one of those movies.
