Embracing cliche and archetypes, Bart Layton’s “Crime 101” in the end succeeds due to its old fashioned, acquainted charms. Layton’s star-studded flick, tailored from the novella by Don Winslow, appears like the kind of crime thriller we used to take as a right, again when Hollywood wasn’t obsessive about churning out Netflix slop and overly-familiar IP tailored for infants. I wish to be clear: “Crime 101” is just not some future traditional, and it lacks the intense fringe of the movies its drawing inspiration from (Michael Mann’s immortal “Warmth” being the prime instance). However the forged is expert, the motion is engrossing, and up till the ultimate ten or so minutes that overstay their welcome, the movie strikes at simply the correct pace. “Crime 101” would not reinvent the wheel, and it would not must. It is simply needs to be an excellent time on the motion pictures. And it’s.
Whereas that title would possibly make you suppose this can be a movie a few prison giving a course at a neighborhood school, the “101” in “Crime 101” truly refers back to the 101 freeway in Los Angeles, the stomping grounds of Mike Davis, one of the vital noble thieves to ever grace the silver display. Performed by good-looking hunk Chris Hemsworth, Mike makes his dwelling stealing issues of appreciable worth, however he appears to exit of his technique to goal rich people who aren’t precisely on the extent, and makes certain to by no means, ever damage anybody (although he does level a loaded gun in folks’s faces).
Hemsworth performs Mike as a shy, awkward skilled. He hires high-class intercourse staff who ask him if he is okay making eye contact, and he has seemingly no buddies or household. He additionally lives in a sparse oceanfront condo that appears equivalent to the one Robert De Niro occupied in “Warmth,” so filmmaker Layton is not precisely being delicate along with his nods and references (later within the movie, characters go forward and begin speaking about Steve McQueen motion pictures, together with “Bullitt” and “The Thomas Crown Affair”). Hemsworth has performed this type of man earlier than, however he is fairly likable right here; I purchased his “prison with a coronary heart of gold” efficiency and located myself rooting for him. Mike is not grasping and he is not overtly violent — he simply needs to make sufficient cash so he can stay with none worries, and who amongst us cannot relate to that?
Crime 101 introduces us to an ensemble of characters on a collision course
Whereas Mike is our introduction into the story, “Crime 101” branches out to offer us a number of native characters, all of whom find yourself connecting a method or one other. There’s Halle Berry as Sharon Colvin, an insurance coverage dealer for a agency that handles obscenely rich purchasers. Sharon has been on the similar job for 11 years and retains being informed her bosses will make her a accomplice, however now in her 50s, she’s beginning to get the sneaking suspicion that she’s been strung alongside all this time. Mark Ruffalo is Detective Lou Lubesnick, a schlubby, worn-out cop who appears to be the one one who realizes Mike’s crimes are all linked. And Barry Keoghan performs Ormon, one other thief who rides a mud bike and has no points hurting folks.
Berry’s Sharon appears like the one character with a number of dimensions, and he or she’s saddled with some clunky dialogue however manages to make it work. Ruffalo can play this type of rumpled cop in his sleep (see: David Fincher’s finest film, “Zodiac,” and the current “Mare of Easttown”-adjacent “Process”), however he is such a talented performer that we’re comfortable to go together with him yet another time. Keoghan’s filth bike dirtbag has virtually no depth to him, however some enjoyable costume design (a lot of pinks and vivid colours) combined with bleached hair and the actor’s option to play his villainous character as a whiny, violent brat make him memorable.
Monica Barbaro makes an underwritten character stand out
There are additionally a gaggle of ancillary characters, all of whom really feel thinly sketched, lurking on the movie’s periphery. Corey Hawkins performs Lou’s accomplice, who simply type of … vanishes from the story. The good Jennifer Jason Leigh is wasted in a single fast scene as Lou’s spouse (come on, folks, can we give Jennifer Jason Leigh extra to do, please?). Outdated professional Nick Nolte, his voice sounding like he is choking on each phrase he spits out, makes probably the most of his small half as Mike’s conniving handler. And Monica Barbaro, so enchanting as Joan Baez in “A Full Unknown,” is Maya, whom Mike finds himself falling for after a meet-cute through which their automobiles actually stumble upon one another.
Of this secondary group, Barbaro fares one of the best, which is a testomony to her skills as a result of Maya is such an underwhelming character in the long run. She’s right here to merely to pop up in Mike’s life and ask him questions on his mysterious previous whereas wanting nice, however Barbaro brings such an enthralling, feisty spark to her scenes that she successfully methods you into considering Maya is extra attention-grabbing than she in the end is. I notably appreciated a scene the place she and Hemsworth awkwardly slow-dance to Bruce Springsteen’s stay cowl of Tom Waits’ “Jersey Woman.”
Crime 101 will get the job achieved
After setting these characters in movement, “Crime 101” strikes at a clipped tempo as Mike goes about placing collectively a kind of fabled “final jobs” that criminals in these types of films are all the time about to drag. For sure, issues preserve arising, threatening to unravel Mike’s rigorously crafted plans. This results in a collection of motion beats, together with a well-staged chase scene the place Mike drives his traditional automotive after Ormon’s filth bike, the autos swerving out and in of visitors at harmful, breakneck speeds. Layton and cinematographer Erik Wilson are additionally keen on flipping the digicam the wrong way up for eerie establishing pictures of L.A. at night time, all of this set to an ominous, thrumming rating by Blanck Mass.
I’ve grown so accustomed to excessive idea and post-irony that I saved anticipating “Crime 101” to abruptly change issues up for a foolish twist, however the movie unfolds at a refreshingly predictable fee. Predictability could not appear recent, however there’s one thing comforting about watching against the law thriller that is content material to ship an easy story with out too many bells and whistles. I used to be just about on board from the leap, though the movie makes an enormous miscalculation by giving us a scene that ought to be the tip, just for issues to lumber on for one more ten pointless minutes meant to wrap every part up in a far-too-neat package deal.
“Crime 101” is the kind of sturdy, beginning-of-the-year programmer we do not get a lot of anymore; it is slick, stable, and stuffed to the brim with proficient actors digging in and profiting from a not-entirely-nutritious meal. I just like the stripped-down, no frills strategy Layton takes to the fabric, and I just like the little quirks — like how Hemsworth’s Mike appears utterly socially inept in on a regular basis life, however turns into charming and easy when he is working. I do not suppose anybody goes to fondly keep in mind “Crime 101” the way in which they keep in mind “Warmth,” however that is okay. Like Hemsworth’s noble thief, it will get the job achieved.
/Movie Ranking: 6 out of 10
“Crime 101” opens in theaters on February 13, 2026.
