‘Crime 101’: Chris Hemsworth Plots a Final Heist in Bart Layton’s Character-Driven Thriller

Alci Rengifo

Handsome faces. Fast cars. Streets in a neon glow. “Crime 101” opens looking like a classic Los Angeles heist movie, with the camera floating over the city’s famous freeways while the hypnotic voice of a meditation program hovers in the soundtrack. Director Bart Layton takes a taught and darkly comic short story by Don Winslow and tries to turn it into one of those moody epics about lonely souls finding release in crime. Layton’s approach certainly succeeds in style, with the kind of cast who naturally dominates the screen. When it tries too hard the movie can become too entangled for its own good, forgetting the (deceptively) simpler pleasures of its source material. 

Chris Hemsworth is Davis, one of those enigmatically quiet movie thieves. As we see in the exciting open scenes, he specializes in stealing jewels, meticulously selecting targets. He prefers carefully planned strikes to clumsy violence, which is why he is able to live quite lavishly at a seaside Los Angeles home, dress well and know good restaurants. On the other side of the law, scruffy LAPD detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) is catching on to Davis’ robbery patterns, such as a habit of always driving off down the 101 freeway, with only a definite identity missing. Lou’s obsession helps distract him from a crumbling marriage and the sudden need to move out. The third character Davis will cross paths with is Sharon Coombs (Halle Berry), a high-end insurance broker frustrated at working 11 years for a firm that refuses to make her partner. One of her clients is planning a big wedding and will have quite the stash of cash and diamonds at the Beverly Hilton. It sounds to Davis like the perfect score to let him retire.

The original Winslow short story was a fast-paced entertainment the author dedicated to actor Steve McQueen. In the text and movie, Davis likes to drive a Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT, the car McQueen drove in the classic “Bullitt.” Layton’s adaptation is so loose as to almost be a completely different story. He is after the atmospheric textures of films like Michael Mann’s “Heat” and “Thief,” even having cinematographer Erik Wilson nod at their cold blue tints and detailed wide shots. He adds familiar story elements like the innocent Maya (Monica Barbaro), a woman Davis meets after a fender bender and takes out to dinner. She of course cannot fathom that this handsome man with good taste, who is clearly uncomfortable in his own skin, could possibly be a criminal. There is a reason these thriller clichés work and we find ourselves caught up in waiting to see how Maya will learn the truth.

This is Layton’s first movie in eight years. His 2018 “American Animals” was a stylish, engrossing docudrama about a group of bored college students who plan a farcically bad robbery. He is a filmmaker clearly fascinated by people and “Crime 101” is best when spending time with its three leads. It also gets overstuffed with a few added personas we could do without. Nick Nolte appears as Money, an older underworld mentor to Davis who decides his protégé can be forcibly retired. Money brings in Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a blonde psycho on a motorcycle who sets out to hijack Davis’ heist. Yet the clearer motivations from the short story are tossed out and in the film it’s not all that clear why Money is dumping Davis, or what Ormon’s own plans are aside from acting crazy. 

“Crime 101” never becomes a loud action movie, saving Davis’ big heist for the last act. The crime is merely a connecting thread for everyone’s frustrated lives. Lou is tired of his superiors dismissing his theories about the mystery jewelry thief, demanding quick results in an environment where public image matters more than genuine justice. Halle Berry delivers fine work as a woman being confronted by the misogyny and cruel ageism of her industry. Collaborating with Davis on a heist becomes a ray of excitement and a potential act of revenge. Oddly enough, the criminal everyone orbits around threatens to become the least engaging character. Hemsworth has the natural serenity for the role. Layton attempts to give him richer material to work with, like Davis being an orphan who wants money for the security it can guarantee. Yet, there’s not much else to the personality aside from looking great within this world. 

“Crime 101” ends as a fascinatingly mixed bag. The big heist at the end almost feels unintentionally comic. Overall the film may not reach the heights of its predecessors, yet it isn’t thoughtless. For most of its long running time of 2 hours and 16 minutes, “Crime 101” thrives on its tone and performances. Some thrillers feel they need to rush through everything in a time of shortening attention spans. This one wants to immerse us in those corners of Los Angeles that live in the shadows even during the day. Even when it gets too indulgent, we can appreciate the skill on display. Despite its flaws, this is a thriller where the underbelly is driven by very human motivations like the desperation for validation and freedom. The slick car is nothing but a symbol for someone who wants to escape the world and themselves through dangerously wrong choices.

“Crime 101” releases Feb. 13 in theaters nationwide.