Travis Leamons // Film Critic
“CRIME 101”
Rated R, 2 hour and 19 minutes
Directed by: Bart Layton
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Nick Nolte, Tate Donovan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Halle Berry
The 101 in Crime 101 is not a class of academia. It refers to a major highway that runs north-south along the Pacific Ocean. Highway 101 is a concrete ventricle that hits most of the major tourist traps in California: Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles. For Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) the 101 isn’t a trap. It’s an escape route.
Don Winslow is an author who has delivered many crime stories over the decades. Some revolve around dirty cops, criminals, or the war on drugs – his Border trilogy is a panoramic view that makes Sicario looks like a Polaroid picture in comparison. Crime 101 is based on his short novella about a master thief and a wearied cop that has been pursuing him for years. Writer-director Bart Layton, who hasn’t made a narrative feature in eight years (the underseen caper American Animals), gives audiences something familiar and sorely needed: a picture for grown ups with movie stars being movie stars.
The one thing it’s not, though, is a reheated version of Michael Mann’s HEAT. I don’t like the comparison. Just because the setting is LA and involves a cat-and-mouse game involving a criminal and a cop does not make it HEAT. You’re telling me the City of Angels isn’t big enough to have more than one master thief trying to navigate his personal and professional life and avoid capture? Crime 101 has more in common with Mann’s Thief and The Thomas Crown Affair if you ask me. Throw in a car chase that would raise William Friedkin from the grave, shooting on location along the 101 and soaking in the dark ambiance of the night, and the film noir staple of alienation with a conflicted protagonist who wants to get out while the getting is good, and you have the makings of sleek and sweeping crime thriller.
The film is much like the 101. Characters travel along the same interstate. Sometimes going the same direction, sometimes going the opposite. Sometimes stuck and looking for the nearest exit. Chief among them is Davis, our meticulous thief with a code he follows to stay safe and not get caught. Lieutenant Ronald “Lou” Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) has been working Robbery-Homicide since the Bush administration (that’s Dubbya) and his dogged pursuit in catching Davis, who he believes is responsible for a string of robberies up and down the 101, has strained both his partner (Corey Hawkins) and the rank and file of LA’s finest. Then there’s the outlier: Sharon (Halle Berry), an insurance broker whose company handles high-profile clients and is responsible for paying out settlements to the people Davis has stolen from.
At the start, a calming voice is telling us to relax. It is the witching hour on the 101 and a sea of white and red lights are visible in both directions. The camera tilts and slowly tracks over the highway before we get our first glimpse of Davis right before he leaves his spartan apartment to conduct a snatch and grab of pricey jewels in transport. The job doesn’t go accordingly, and he tells his fence (aptly named Money, played by Nick Nolte) that he wants to abort the next high-end robbery he has already cased. Of course, this doesn’t please Money and he brings in Ormon (Barry Keoghan, the reigning MVP of the slimy weasel), a spiky, bleach blonde thief with a bad temper. In the realm of professional football this would be the equivalent of Tom Brady coming in to replace Drew Bledsoe. But Ormon is no Tom Brady – just a twitchy stick-up man on a motorcycle with a devil may care attitude. Unlike Davis who is risk averse and plans his jobs so nobody gets hurt.
Right before Sharon can reel in a big fish client with deep pockets, she gets put on assignment by her insurance firm to determine if one of their jeweler clients was indeed robbed or if it was an inside job. Lou also has the same questions, though his gut tells him it is the guy he has been obsessing over for years. One highway, one crime, and three characters with personal and professional concerns.
What is most striking about Crime 101 is how these three characters see themselves at the jump and slowly change as opportunity knocks in the form of a jewel and cash money heist worth upwards of $11 million. Lou as the blue-collar yeoman; a squinty-eyed idealist with a protruding waistline in an office of coasters (not causing waves), flatfoots, and amoral stiffs in suits. Sharon as the aging claims adjuster that has been working with the same firm for eleven years and not been made a partner. Her introduction is one of restless nights and listless mornings. Sharon’s makeup ritual can only do so much in hiding contempt of a workplace that has devalued her worth. Finally, Davis alone and elusive and not good with people is suddenly smitten with Monica Barbaro’s Maya (can you blame him?) after a small fender-bender meet cute. His personal interactions recall Ryan Gosling’s Driver starting to humanize in Drive – another cinematic inspiration for Crime 101, I’m sure.
While I don’t think Layton needs such breadth to expand Winslow’s sixty-page novella, he adheres to the material better than those who have previously tried translating the author’s works to screen. The characters are what interest him most, not the criminal enterprise. Layton also graciously sidesteps the need to explain things to the audience. Though, he does impress upon us a sense of just morality: The end game only hurts those who already have more than enough.
In the novella, actor Steve McQueen’s name is mentioned a few times. McQueen was the “King of Cool” when it came to movie stars. The energy he exudes was a quiet confidence. A California breeze. As Winslow writes in Crime 101, “If the 101 were an actor, it would be Steve McQueen.” Mike Davis may be a phantom on the highway, but away from the road he’s not unlike McQueen who had a troubled upbringing, including spending his teenage years at an all-boys reform school. I bring this up because Chris Hemsworth approaches his character much like McQueen would perform on screen. Very taciturn and expressionless, but an intimidating presence.
Here’s the thing. Michael Mann’s crime films are the template and have inspired legions of filmmakers. Bart Layton is not doing a re-heat of HEAT with Crime 101. He gives us characters trying to get out of a fugue state. For some it’s a change of scenery, or a new car, or a new beginning. If you remember anything with this review, remember this. When confronted with a difficult situation ask yourself WWSMD?
What would Steve McQueen do?
Grade: B
