"I need to be in your line of work." Are you sure about that boss, a dangerous life of misdeed with the po-po hot on your heels. Yowsa! Oh and said po-po listens to Bryan Adams while getting his nicotine on then proceeding to do yoga. Double yowsa.
Anyway 2026's Crime 101 does involve transgression and the 101, well I guess it's the highway in which an escape route is used when the stealing goes down. Slickness, glossy cinematography by Erik Wilson, a musical score that evokes some Michael Mann flick from years back (hint hint). It's like Crime 101's director (Bart Layton) saw Heat from '95 and decided to nearly equal its running time (140 minutes compared to 170 minutes). "Start by handing me your phone." Uh, I don't think Al Pacino was packing the cell back in post-Cold War decade LA.
So yeah, as a vehicle about a master thief who befriends a saddened insurance broker hoping she'll help him pull off some million dollar heist, Crime 101 stars Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, and good old Mark Ruffalo. As for the rest of the big cast, uh Jennifer Jason Leigh makes a cameo, Nick Nolte shows up for a few scenes, and recent Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro, well she plays Hemsworth's character's cute squeeze, a pseudo, Eady type (more with the hint hint).
Basically "Crime" is a sort of software-updated version of Heat (mentioned earlier). It's locale driven, with personas that fade in and out, some SoCal speck, and a couple of nifty car chases. Too bad it lacks Heat's haunting closed book, its lack of dangling plot threads, and its completely cold-blooded danger. Oh well. Film geeks will for sure get a kick out of Crime 101's earnest attempt to be the GOAT of all things neo-noir. Oh and guess what, Neil McCauley called and said he wants his sunnies, his nice suits, and his black, nitrile gloves back. "Regulatory offense."
Written by Jesse Burleson
No comments:
Post a Comment