Towards the end of Crime 101, I nailed down the thought that had been circling my head about this heist movie, starring Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo. Of course I’d seen them sharing a screen before, I realised: they’re together in half a dozen Marvel movies, one of them pretending to be Thor and the other the Hulk.
For a decade, both actors, along with everyone else in Hollywood who had an ounce of talent, was sucked into the great superhero machine, churning out multiple films a year with complex plotlines that never seemed to resolve. A lot of it was great fun, but many of us did wonder what else these people might have been making if they hadn’t been stuck in front of a green screen wearing silly costumes.
Now we know. Crime 101 is an enjoyable crime thriller of the sort that, a couple of decades ago, we used to get most weeks. Based on a novella by Don Winslow, it weaves together a series of stories. Hemsworth is a criminal who makes a living pulling off fast efficient robberies of jewels. Ruffalo is the shambolic-but-brilliant detective chasing him. Halle Berry is an insurance agent to the super wealthy who increasingly despises her clients.
Each is becoming disillusioned with their work. Hemsworth is losing his nerve and meets a girl who gives him a glimpse at another kind of life. Ruffalo’s boss is more interested in hitting targets than serving justice. Berry is realising that her company used her to entice lecherous millionaires, a role for which she’s now too old – her speech to a younger colleague is delivered with such feeling that you can’t help wondering whether it’s really Berry telling us about her experiences as a woman in Hollywood.
Director Bart Layton moves between these tales with great skill, keeping our sympathy with all the characters. I found myself thinking of the greatest LA story of cops and robbers, Michael Mann’s Heat. Blanck Mass’s soundtrack gives us a thumping heartbeat at moments of stress, layering on the tension.
There aren’t a huge number of surprises in the tale, but it’s well done. Hemsworth, perhaps a little too old for his role, still manages to convince as someone who is terrifying when playing the robber, but vulnerable when himself.
I enjoyed every minute of it, although I’m the precise target market: the moment I knew we were in a world of middle-aged male wish-fulfilment was when twentysomething love interest Monica Barbaro put on a Bruce Springsteen live album in order to slow dance with Hemsworth. I wish I believed that was how millennials spend their evenings, but I don’t.
This isn’t Heat, but it’ll do until another Heat comes along.
