By Gabriel Payne
Los Angeles, California is a beautiful city, home to nearly 4 million people and every single one of them has a different story. Some are bankers, some are lawyers and some steal millions of dollars to make ends meet.
The storyline of “Crime 101” follows a highly successful, highly meticulous Los Angeles jewel thief and his plan for a diamond heist that, if he pulls it off, will set him up for the rest of his life. Throughout the journey, the thief and the other core plot members grapple with the ideas of purpose, fulfillment and the meaning of life. By the film’s end, each character has discovered what they really want out of life and decides to pursue that wholeheartedly.
While the headline star of the film is clearly the debonair and mysterious thief Mike Davis, played by Chris Hemsworth, the story is truly centered around three main characters. Hemsworth as Mike, Mark Ruffalo as a washed up LAPD Detective Lou Lubesnick and Halle Berry as highly competent, highly dissatisfied insurance broker Sharon Combs.
Each member of this all star cast offers an entertaining performance, though nothing outside of the expectations for a movie of this caliber. What this story does well is high octane action, not as much character work, so the weakness of the character moments can be ascribed to the fault of the story rather than the performances.
Adapted from a 2020 novella written by Don Winslow, the film gets some things impressively right. The action sequences, the costumes, cinematography and score are all excellent. From a technical film standpoint, there was not a lot left on the table. However, the struggle came in the adaptation of the novella story. A perfect example of this dichotomy is the opening sequence.
The opening seconds of Bart Layton’s “Crime 101” are some of the most unique introductory moments of any film in recent memory. The scene opens to a late night shot of the mesmerizing Los Angeles skyline, but the camera is upside down.
In the background, a guided meditation track directs the listener to slow their breathing, to quiet their mind and to receive this day with gratitude while the camera slowly rotates. The tension and volume in the soundtrack builds, and within the first three minutes you are hooked into this strangely familiar yet totally different world, ready to experience whatever it has to offer.
The issue with this scene is not the execution of it, but its significance. From a spectacle perspective, the shot accomplishes exactly what it intended -it lays the groundwork for a high stakes, fast paced action movie. The audience then expects everything following to continue this theme, yet is sorely disappointed in the following product.
The thing about written stories is that their value does not lie in the spectacle and action of the moment. It is the deeply detailed, subtly refined character development, dialogue and description that makes a book stand out.
The trouble with adaptations is that elements which work well in one medium often don’t transfer well to another and “Crime 101” is an unfortunate example of this failed transfer. The rich character drama that gave the original novella heart is lost in its adaptation, with the result feeling rushed, flat and sloppily executed. Billed as an action thriller yet written as a character drama, the film’s mismatched sense of identity is its greatest handicap.
Though its story and character work were subpar, the movie is an overall enjoyable experience. The action moments it does have are truly thrilling and the star studded cast makes every scene at least enjoyable. Aside from a highly unnecessary amount of crude joking and a limited inclusion of action scenes, there are few other complaints to be made about this film. I would recommend it as a fun watch with your friends once it is released on streaming and rate it a 6/10.
“Crime 101” is currently playing in theatres
Gabriel Payne is a junior Mechanical Engineering major whose greatest passion in life is glorifying the Lord, followed closely by some good soul food.
Pictures courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios, Working Title Films and RAW
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