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What if you remade Heat with less violence, less purpose, and no Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, or Val Kilmer? Director Bart Layton explores that very question with Crime 101, an effectively made heist thriller let down by a ho hum story.
Crime 101 holds your attention throughout, despite its longer runtime. Chris Hemsworth plays the equivalent of De Niro’s, a master thief looking for his next big score. He’s distracted by a budding romance—his first real emotional connection in years—with the hot female pilot from Top Gun: Maverick (Monica Barbaro), while Al Pacino-esque cop Mark Ruffalo closes in. Halle Berry is in the movie too for some reason.
Layton truly does a fine job of directing the movie, which maintains steady momentum throughout. Crime 101 plays like a mature thriller, not content to be one of a thousand generic films that has come before it. It hums with a steady if nuanced soundtrack and strong if far-from-Michael Mann-level cinematography.
Sadly, the climax, or lack of one, kills any goodwill Layton builds for the first two hours. The ending warrants a verbal, “That’s it?” Layton needed to throw his characters at one another and let sparks fly, but instead he plays it safe, delivering a wimpy conclusion that flames out as soon as it’s begun.
Had the ending been better—even half of what Heat delivers—Crime 101 could have been something.
Instead, it’s simply a crime.
Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.
