Crime 101 - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

BRITISH filmmaker Bart Layton follows up his eye-catching debut American Animals with a fast paced crime thriller that Heat-era Michael Mann would be proud of.

Crime 101 is a sly, socially relevant piece of cinema that trades on the familiar while also maintaining a confidence and identity of its own.

It’s populated by two former Mann actors: Chris Hemsworth (Blackhat), who takes the lead as Mike, who commits precision focused jewel robberies up and down the Californian 101 highway under the guidance of his tough guy mentor, Money (Nick Nolte), who was also responsible for luring Mike from foster care into crime.

Pursuing him is dishevelled LA detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo, of Collateral fame), who spots the pattern that no one else sees and doggedly pursues his foe - despite being painfully aware of the disdain this theory brings him from colleagues.

Thrown into the mix are a trigger happy rival named Ormon (Barry Keoghan), who is deployed by Money when he begins to fear that Mike is losing his nerve, and troubled insurance agent Sharon (Halle Berry), who has become increasingly isolated by her male chauvinist bosses at work, and who is picked by Mike to give him the inside info needed for a hugely lucrative job that he figures he can set up on his own.

The backdrop, meanwhile, is an LA rife with vested interest and corruption - a place where corporations rule the roost and capitalistic attitudes run amok.

This is Trump’s America: a place where it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys… and where honest thieves (those with non-violent codes such as Mike’s) command more respect and sympathy from the chasing cops that those men who are unreachable by virtue of the power and connections they possess - a point further illustrates by the presence of the film’s main mark: a hyper rich businessman (played by Tate Donovan) who has more money than sense and a trophy wife to be.

Ruffalo’s presence is a telling one amid this high calibre cast. It’s easy to see what elements of the film’s script appealed to him, given his real-life sympathies and open hatred of Trump. But this also lends the film its added edge. For those willing to lean in and listen, this does have something to say about the current state of America, albeit with the confines of a highly escapist thriller.

And it’s here also that Layton delivers. For while the political and social subtext is there, Crime 101 does deliver where it should: it’s suitably muscular, occasionally unpredictable yet cleverly evocative of past genre classics such as Heat and even Point Break (which, in itself, was rallying against the system). Indeed, Ruffalo’s cop has plenty in common with Gary Busey’s Papas from that film.

The cast is committed and deliver quality performances, the car chases are suitably well directed and exciting and some of the heists are well orchestrated.

Crime 101 therefore delivers everything it should in a style that deserves mention alongside the films it is clearly inspired by.

Certificate: 15

Running time: 2hrs 19mins