Kevin Costner Is Implanted With Ryan Reynolds’ Skills in ‘Criminal’

Sandra Miska

The indefatigable Kevin Costner stars in the action thriller “Criminal.” He plays Jericho Stewart, a dangerous sociopathic convict who is operated on against his will and implanted with the skills and memories of Bill Pope, a deceased CIA agent, in an effort to stop a diabolical plot.

After Pope dies while trying to stop a hacker known as The Dutchman (Michael Pitt), a man who is able to launch missiles at will, the CIA is desperate to see his mission completed. With seemingly nothing to lose, they order experimental surgery to be performed on death-row inmate Jericho in the hopes that he will complete what Pope started and stop an international conspiracy.

What the CIA higher-ups including bureau boss Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) didn’t count on was Jericho feeling Bill’s emotions like tenderness for his wife Jill played by Gal Gadot. Jericho’s newfound feelings and concern for others soon put his mission in jeopardy.

The cast of “Criminal” also includes Alice Eve as a CIA analyst and Tommy Lee Jones as the surgeon who operates on Jericho.

Costner plays such a convincing badass in his films that a rumor started not too long ago about his being a hero in real life. The word on the street was that the star of “The Bodyguard” took down a shark to protect his wife of nearly twelve years, former model and handbag designer Christine Baumgartner. However, Costner recently dispelled the rumors to “Extra” explaining that he wasn’t even in the country when a 12-foot shark approached Christine while she was on a paddleboard on their private beach in Santa Barbara.

“She told me while I was in London making ‘Criminal,’ . . . which was really a helpless feeling,” he revealed.

Next up, Costner will star alongside Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Jim Parsons in “Hidden Figures,” a drama about African-American mathematician Katherine Johnson.

“Criminal” opens nationwide on April 15.