Jennifer Jason Leigh

Crime 101

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

Annihilation

16/03/18

Another day, and another movie goes straight to Netflix. After Mute and The Cloverfield Paradox, this is starting to feel like a trend, though in the case of Annihilation, writer/director Alex Garland has been very vocal about his displeasure in learning that his brainchild would not be receiving a theatrical release. The reason he was given by Paramount? The film was ‘too intellectual.’ More likely, perhaps, is the fact that too many big-budget science fiction movies have failed to put bums on seats over the past year.  Whatever the explanation, the film’s expensive credentials are evident and it must be said that some of the more eye-popping effects sequences really would have looked a lot more impressive on a big screen.

Soldier-turned-college-biology-lecturer, Lena (Natalie Portman), is in a bad place in the film’s early stretches. Her husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), is a soldier, missing in action for over a year after being sent away on a secret mission – but she hasn’t quite given up hope that he will return. Then, quite unexpectedly, he does come back, acting very strangely, shortly before collapsing into a coma. On the way to the nearest hospital, the ambulance is intercepted by soldiers and Lena and Kane are rushed to a secret facility in Florida, where Kane is put on life support. Lena meets scientist Dr Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who tells her about ‘The Shimmer’ – a strange, shifting dimension that has established itself in the Everglades after a mysterious meteor strike. The Shimmer appears to be constantly expanding and Ventress tells Lena that Kane was part of a team sent in there to investigate. The other members have all disappeared without trace. Ventress explains that she is planning to lead an all-female team in there in a few days’ time and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Lena elects to go with them.

Once inside this unknown dimension, things begin to go very weird, very quickly. The team soon establish that here, species are getting their individual DNA all mixed up with others. This can be as enchanting as flowers sprouting multi coloured petals from the same stem, or growing into the shape of humans – but it can also be as sinister as a huge alligator which seems to have merged with a shark, creating a creature you most definitely do not want to spend any time with. As the team make their way closer and closer to the site of the meteor impact it begins to look as though their chances of surviving this mission are growing perilously slim…

Annihilation is a decent sci-fi movie, if not an exceptional one – and it’s nowhere near as effective as Garland’s previous effort, the criminally underrated Ex Machina. It’s refreshing though to see an action film that is predominately led by female actors, even if I really didn’t learn an awful lot about their respective characters – and there’s one particular sequence in here, featuring a mutated bear, that really did push the throttle headlong in the direction of terror. There’s an interesting conclusion too, which will doubtless prompt some discussion after the credits have rolled.

In the end, it’s hard to say whether this film would have done much business at the cinema. I actually doubt it. And, judging by what I’ve seen on social media, it’s getting plenty of  viewings on Netflix, even if most of the resulting comments are far from complimentary.

One thing’s for sure. It’s an easy matter to tune in and judge for yourselves.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Morgan

06/09/16

Morgan is a sci-fi thriller with a difference: this one passes the Bechdel test. And it’s really rather good.

Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a bioengineered life-form, an experiment in artificial intelligence. But her creators have become too emotionally attached, and are unable to treat her as anything less than human. When she attacks Dr Grieff (Jennifer Jason Leigh in a disappointingly small role), risk-management consultant Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) is sent in to sort things out. But the odds are stacked against her: Morgan might be dangerous and out of control, but the scientists are on her side.

Okay, so there are some issues. Let’s face it, credulity is stretched at times; it requires a gigantic leap of faith to believe that a being – however special – can jump into a car and drive it without ever having seen one before. And how does Morgan know, just by looking at him, that Dr Shapiro (Paul Giamatti) is married and has two kids? I’m happy to believe in the fi part of the sci, but it’s better when the ‘magic’ is explained convincingly. In addition, there’s a definite slump in the second half, when all the slice-and-dice stuff kicks in.

But overall, this is a lot of fun. Mara and Taylor-Joy are worthy adversaries, both wonderfully kick-ass and convincing in their roles. Paul Giamatti is as compelling as ever, and Rose Leslie (as Dr Menser) adds a quirky naivety to the tale. And the payoff is worth the wait.

Worth watching. So catch it while you can.

4 stars

Susan Singfield