I'd been looking for a good crime thriller for a while when I came across Crime 101, a movie that originally hit theaters in February of this year and has been streaming on Amazon since April. The plot follows Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), a meticulous jewel thief who pulls off his jobs in Los Angeles. At the same time, it follows Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), a seasoned cop who's obsessed with catching this criminal who has been operating for years.
As the story moves forward, you could say it turns into a classic cat-and-mouse game. Things get complicated when new characters show up: Ormon (Barry Keoghan), an impulsive young criminal brought in to handle jobs that Mike Davis didn't finish. We also have Sharon (Halle Berry), a highly competent insurance agent whose interests end up crossing paths with the protagonist's. This is where the moral dilemmas kick in, set against an absorbing atmosphere that seems to give the characters reasons to justify their actions.
I have to say, the movie is pretty measured—there's not a ton of action, but it keeps a steady plot development going, which works well for a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute runtime. When the credits rolled, I was surprised to learn it's based on a short novella by Don Winslow, whom some might remember as the author and screenwriter of the 2012 movie Savages. That made a lot of things click for me; you can really see that signature style of developing a criminal character from humble roots, driven to have what he never had, but operating with a certain moral code: stealing from the rich without hurting anyone.
The cast is easily the highlight of the movie. Chris Hemsworth keeps pushing to break away from the silly typecast stuck to him after playing Thor. Mark Ruffalo did a fantastic job, as far as I'm concerned; it's the second time I've seen him play a veteran cop, the first being in the miniseries Task. In both roles, his character is pretty similar—a cop with a total mess of a personal life, but damn good at what he does. Overall, everyone in the cast does a great job, and you can see their dedication and commitment to driving the plot forward.
It's a good movie, I have to say—I enjoyed it from start to finish. I'm a huge fan of cop and criminal thrillers, and I liked it because it has that old-school movie vibe, like Heat starring Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, and Robert De Niro, which is an absolute masterpiece of the genre. Even though Crime 101 doesn't have the same pacing as Heat—it's definitely slower—I understood that the director focused heavily on character development (the thief, the detective, the insurance agent, and the impulsive criminal) to understand their motives. For those of us who enjoy that kind of depth, it's a movie you can't miss.
Media from TMBD gallery
Rating: 75/100