Once upon a time, the movie industry had a reliable formula for success. Sure, there would be blockbusters, but most of the time they would spend a medium amount of money on a handful of well-known actors, who were required to play to their strengths with a script that mostly held water and delivered a satisfying conclusion.
A movie like this could be found playing at any given time at a multiplex in the 1990s.
But the movie industry has changed so dramatically that when a film of this ilk does come along, it feels like a strange and beautiful unicorn.
“Crime 101” is a straightforward crime thriller that stars Chris Hemsworth, the God of Thunder himself, as a meticulous jewel thief who perpetrates a series of robberies along Highway 101 in Los Angeles.
On his trail is a disheveled police detective played by Mark Ruffalo, who sees a pattern to these evidence-free robberies while the rest of the department dismisses him as a washed-up kook.
The key to Hemsworth’s next big score is Halle Berry, who plays an account rep at a high-end insurance company dealing with perpetual frustrations thanks to her obnoxious billionaire clients and the glass ceiling she constantly rams into back at the office.
Also in the mix is Barry Keoghan as a sloppy, twitchy rival thief and Monica Barbaro as Hemsworth’s normie love interest.
Writer/director Bart Layton crafts his by-the-book heist movie with enough character development to make you care about who may or may not get shot or arrested, while keeping the plot just bouncy enough to avoid total predictability.
“Crime 101” is about as close as you can get to cinematic comfort food. Every part is well cast, and none of the actors are asked to step out of their comfort zone. Hemsworth gets to be cool and brooding, Ruffalo gets to be rumpled and noble, Berry gets to be sleek and indignant and Keoghan gets to be nervy and weird. Aces all around!
“Crime 101” isn’t trying to win any awards or change the way you look at the world. It just wants to be entertaining and let movie stars showcase their talents. It does an excellent job of accomplishing its mission.
The real crime is that we have so few of these highly competent, middle-of-the-road movies that it feels like a celebration when one finally does come along.
“Crime 101” is rated R for language throughout, some violence and sexual material/nudity.
