Crime 101 ★★★

Crime 101 is one for lovers of classic crime movies. An adaptation of Don Winslow’s novel of the same name, director Bart Layton’s film plays like an homage to these films. The era of cool, classic cars, loaded with car chases, movies led by Steve McQueen or Robert Redford and directed by Michael Mann or William Friedkin. There are countless shots here that feel like direct influences from Mann’s Thief or his later Collateral. The central dynamic between high-class thief “Mike” (Chris Hemsworth) and LAPD detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) has plenty of Heat to it, while the men even spend a drive together waxing nostalgic about which McQueen movie they love more, debating between Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair. Crime 101 wears its influences on its chest, but offers plenty of twists and turns along the way in this story about a thief and the cop hot on his trail.

Mike is a structured and detailed thief. He takes no unnecessary risks, always has a getaway plan, and never uses violence. The opening heist of Crime 101, a job where Mike intercepts a high-value diamond delivery, showcases everything that he does to ensure success in his heists. Every angle seems to be covered. He is cold and calculating, confident and radiating charisma. He knows everything about everybody involved in this transport. He even has water bottles in his trunk, ready for the diamond delivery security guard he puts in there to drink if he gets thirsty on the way to the job. Mike is a professional. Anything he does not know is a risk to him and he does not like risk. However, as much as Mike knows about his targets, Lou Lubesnick knows about Mike. Well, sort of. Lou has a theory. There have been a string of robberies where no evidence was left behind, no violence was used, and a highly valued but insured item was stolen. They have all occurred along U.S. Route 101. Lou believes this to be the work of a sole operator, though nobody else in the department agrees. But, Lou knows. And Lou is waiting for Mike to slip just once and leave some shred of evidence behind.

Layton excels in making Crime 101 feel alive. It draws in the audience with its action-packed heists and chases. It pulses and excites. It shines in the small details. Layton is a documentarian at heart with even his lone prior feature film being the docudrama American Animals, so this is as much about the crimes as the people involved. In that way, it is a sort of undercutting of the classic quiet high-class thief characterization. Mike is this to a degree, but his criminal work is just one side to him. He had a troubled childhood and now he tries to find love with Maya (Monica Barbaro), but as charismatic and confident as he is in his work, he is awkward and stilted in life. The thief role is basically a character for him, one that allows him to step out of his own life to feel like he has control. The same dynamic is found in Lou and in Sharon Combs (Halle Berry), an insurance broker who Mike approaches to help him pull off a particularly lucrative job. Both Mike and Sharon are getting older, are unappreciated at work due to their age and refusal to play the “game” to get promoted, and are feeling the ticking clock of time. They are unfulfilled and seeking direction. They, like Mike, want security. They want to feel empowered. They all find it in different ways – whether in heist work, investigations, yoga or just listening to self help tapes – but they are all broken. Hemsworth, Ruffalo, and Berry bring class to these roles, building them beyond the page and giving them depth. Supporting roles for Corey Hawkins as Lou’s detective partner Det. Tillman, Barbaro as Mike’s love interest, Nick Nolte as Mike’s handler Money, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lou’s estranged wife Angie further add to this quality, though Barbaro and Leigh especially are criminally underutilized. Crime 101 is nevertheless about the interplay and dynamics between Mike, Lou, and Sharon, and without the authenticity the cast lends in this dynamic and in their character development, it would sink or fall flat.

While thrilling and exciting as one would hope, Crime 101 fizzles out a bit in the end. It is overlong with its third act feeling especially prolonged. It is one of those films that feel like they have multiple endings, never fading to black when one expects and always finding another scene to tack on to wrap things up. The climax, as well, is a bit underwhelming. The presence of Ormon (Barry Keoghan) does not help in this scene. He is the polar opposite to Mike. He is brash and cocky, only able to express himself in violence. Mike’s handler Money brought Ormon into the picture, believing Mike to have lost some of his nerve and handing Ormon a job that Mike had been planning. Now, as Mike works this final job with Sharon, Ormon is lurking again in the distance. He is a chaotic element to drop into the mix, adding to the tension and suspense of Crime 101, while offering a counter-balance that allows some moral redemption for Mike because of how he handles these jobs. Keoghan is great, but the character is just so chaotic that he ruins the vibe of Crime 101, interjecting too much manic energy and an irrationality that leads to a finale that feels a bit too over-the-top, drawn out, and anti-climactic for its own good. The selling point is the hunter and hunted dynamic between Lou and Mike, with Ormon feeling like a third wheel, cut-and-pasted from a different movie and one who never fits into the rest of the world Layton lays out.

Crime 101 rises on its style. The Mann influenced shots are especially striking. Cinematographer Erik Wilson delivers a great shot early on of Hemsworth’s eyes lit up as he looks in the rear-view mirror of his car, the rest of him dimmed in contrast to his eyes. Wilson loves a good rack focus and utilizes them aplenty in building visual tension and suspense. He knows how to shoot a car to amplify its magnetic pull in the eyes of a car aficionado – which all of Mike, Lou, and Sharon are – with a sleek and stylish appeal to every appearance of a classic car, whipping around the streets at dangerous speeds, and taking tight turns with flair and squeals. Wilson and Layton excel in capturing the vibe of Los Angeles even amidst the crime, whether in the lavish lifestyle or in the relaxing pull of the Pacific Ocean. A scene of Mike just stepping out onto his beachfront balcony, taking in the view, and then being interrupted by the ominous presence of a lit cigarette in the background is a real highlight. The editing of Crime 101 adds to its stylish flair – especially in the rising action as Mike and Lou get ready for what will be their showdown, intercutting between the two and match cutting as they get dressed – as does the costume design which adds character when it needs to in casual wear, but really adds to the flash and elegance of the world Crime 101’s characters inhabit.

Crime 101 is an often cool and laid back film, a fantastic trip to the theaters with the big screen benefitting its flashy style, strong cinematography, and elaborate action scenes. It has its roots in the classics of the genre, borrowing heavily from films directed by Michael Mann or starring Steve McQueen especially, while director Bart Layton finds balance for his character-driven approach, his love of this charismatic and luxurious world of high-class thievery, and his affection for those classic crime films. Crime 101 suffers from some bloat and a vibe that gets interrupted too much by a character who never quite fits into the overall dynamic, but despite these drawbacks, this is a thrilling and fun cinematic throwback.