Crime 101 has a tantalizing cast, bursting at the seams with both A-listers and actors who deserve to be A-listers. But that’s where the appeal of this movie, based on the short story of the same name by Don Winslow, begins and ends.
Maybe it’s because there’s shorter source material than the typical book-to-screen adaptation, but the film version of Crime 101 commits a fatal mistake for a thriller: it comes together too slowly. The plot feels over-stretched across nearly two and a half hours, and writer-director Bart Layton’s script particularly struggles in the early going, when he uses quick cuts between characters to establish the multiple points of view. Unfortunately, these mundane moments—like watching Halle Berry do her makeup—don’t add anything to viewers’ understanding. And they’re so brief that all they accomplish is pulling the viewer’s focus away from what they were trying to pay attention to before.
The plot requires about an hour to truly gel, and not because it’s sneaking up on the audience. That’s how long it takes for viewers to feel any sense of real pressure on the characters. The best crime movies are the ones where the tension is there from the start, and audience members can’t wait for it to boil over. Crime 101 spends so much time on establishing its protagonists’ daily lives and circumstances that it only drums up that kind of energy in its final 45 minutes.
What the movie does have going for it is a cast that does their best with what they’ve been given. Hemsworth is a reliable pick for the conflicted Mike, charming and easy to root for, even if he’s not fully unleashed until that last act. Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown, Chicago Justice) is underused as Davis’s love interest Maya. Berry and Mark Ruffalo get more scenery to chew, with the former having the best scene in the whole movie when her character Sharon finally asserts herself. Berry and Ruffalo also work incredibly well together, to the point where the budding dynamic between Sharon and detective Lou almost overshadows Mike’s journey. Audiences will leave wondering where they could possibly go next.
Crime 101 additionally features solid supporting performances from In the Heights star Corey Hawkins, Mayor of Kingstown‘s Matthew Del Negro, and Leverage‘s Drew Powell as Lou’s police colleagues. All of them understand the assignment. Del Negro deserves particular props for taking what could’ve been a tired character type—the boss trying to keep the rogue cop in line—and making it feel fresh. The weak link in this otherwise solid chain is Mike’s rival, portrayed by Barry Keoghan, but that’s because most of Keoghan’s screen time consists of yelling typical crime movie dialogue, save a convenience store exchange with Mike that’s full of cringe-worthy, grade-school insults. Keoghan’s character is more of an annoyance (for both Mike and the audience) than a villain to be worried about.
And therein lies the fundamental issue: Layton has written and directed a movie that wants to be cooler and more clever than it actually is. Crime 101 wants to be a labyrinthine thriller that weaves four perspectives together into one whole. At times, it wants to be a meditation on the “haves and have nots” of Los Angeles, with its interspersed shots of unhoused people on the streets and working-class people on the buses. Even the movie’s visual style is scattered, with the camera starting upside down and regularly turning shots at odd angles.
None of these things are necessary; all the film needs is a good crime story, and to get out of the way of its talented cast. But it gets lost in overly ambitious style and story choices. One is left to wonder how much greater it could have been.
Crime 101 is in theaters now. Photo Credit: Dean Rogers/Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.