14/03/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

There’s something delightfully old-fashioned about Crime 101, a sense of quality that harks back to the classic cop thrillers of the 70s and 80s. Directed and written by Bart Layton and based on a novella by Don Winslow, the film moves smoothly through its initial set-up to a pulse-pounding conclusion, prowling confidently along like the proverbial tiger on vaseline. Pretty much all of its characters are beautifully drawn and have very good reasons to be where they are.

A highly-disciplined jewel thief has arrived in LA. All of the million-dollar hits to date have occurred at some point along Route101, a fact that has not escaped the attention of LAPD detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo). But his attempts to get this across to his fellow cops seems destined to get him nowhere. They are much more interested in ticking boxes and ensuring they’re left looking good, even if that means bending the rules.

We know from the get-go who Lou is looking for. It’s Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), a highly-principled villain, who leaves nothing to chance. So, when he doesn’t like the set up for his next job in Santa Barbara, he tells his fence, Money (Nick Nolte), that he’s going to give this one a swerve. Money, more interested in making big bucks, hires motorbiking thug Ormon (Barry Keoghan) to handle the heist instead. Orman is an undisciplined agent of chaos and his messy attack on a jewellery store threatens to completely derail everything.

Meanwhile, insurance broker Sharon (Halle Berry) is getting sick and tired of her bosses passing her over for a long-promised partnership. She is beginning to realise that something is going to have to change. And then Mike is quite literally run into by a stranger called Maya (Monica Barbaro) and he too begins to ask himself if it might be time to get out of the risky career he’s currently embroiled in…

If the story sounds complicated on paper, have no fears on that score. The narrative is beautifully handled and I’m never in any doubt about the many twists and turns the story takes. There’s much to admire along the way, not least Erik Wilson’s stunning cinematography, which depicts LA in all of its neon-drenched glory. Hemsworth, too often fobbed off with roles that don’t actually require him to do much more than stand around and look handsome, actually gets to flex his acting skills here. There are some beautifully-handled car chase sequences (when Lou asks Mike which is his favourite Steve McQueen movie, it’s no surprise that he chooses Bullitt) and I love the scene where Sharon tells her boss exactly what she thinks of him.

On the nitpick side, Nolte’s dialogue is hard to follow, Jennifer Jason Leigh is wasted in a tiny cameo role – and quite why Keoghan keeps playing characters that would be better suited to a teenage actor is quite beyond me.

But these are minor niggles. I am swept up in the story until we get to a slickly-orchestrated final heist where the suspense builds to a thrilling climax. In a story this earthy, it’s rare to find a redemptive conclusion, but somehow Crime 101 manages to achieve one. I am late getting to this, but I’m really glad I’ve managed to catch it on the big screen before it moves to streaming.

4. 8 stars

Philip Caveney