Los Angeles at night. A vibrant sea of color that stretches from the Pacific to the Santa Monica Mountains, filmed from a sublime, floating bird's eye view – is there a shot that screams more cinematic? Films like “Heat”, “Drive” and “Collateral” have repeatedly celebrated this view of the City of Angels and charged it with melancholy, loneliness, but also hope. But in recent years, this exact image has hardly been seen on the big screen – and it has rarely been captured on location.
The reason for this is depressing, especially if you see Hollywood as a place of unlimited possibilities: LA has simply become too expensive. Added to this are more attractive tax incentives elsewhere (such as Europe or Atlanta), which attract productions with generous credits and de facto repayments. California has now responded and increased its funding programs to prevent the dream factory from abolishing itself. Whether this will lead to a return to increased filming in Los Angeles remains to be seen. The great thriller “Crime 101” already shows what enormous atmospheric gain this could mean.
Davis (Chris Hemsworth) is always one step ahead of the police.
Davis (Chris Hemsworth) is a brilliant jewelry thief who keeps the Los Angeles police on their toes. His raids are planned down to the smallest detail – so precisely that the authorities simply cannot track him down. But when Davis sets his sights on the last and biggest coup of his career, his perfectly balanced system begins to falter. He falls out with his employer (Nick Nolte), who has already appointed a successor in the form of the unpredictable Ormon (Barry Keoghan). This, of all people, is now supposed to carry out the meticulously prepared robbery.
As the LAPD continues to fail to identify a clear pattern in the robberies along the 101 Freeway, Detective Lieutenant Lubesnik (Mark Ruffalo) comes dangerously close to Davis. The dogged investigator follows the loner and becomes more and more of a serious threat. The situation becomes even more complicated when Davis crosses paths with insurance manager Sharon (Halle Berry), who is frustrated with her job. And then the master thief falls in love with Maya (Monica Barbaro)…
The characters are the focus
With “The Blender – The Imposter” and “American Animals”, director Bart Layton has already impressively proven twice that you don't have to draw tension from superficial flash effects. Rather, the thrill of his films comes from looking closely at the psyche of his characters and trying to understand why they act the way they do. Layton remains consistently true to this approach in “Crime 101”. Anyone expecting a cracking action thriller in which one spectacular chase follows the next will probably be disappointed at first. The film is still incredibly gripping with its impressive running time of 145 minutes.
This is mainly due to Layton's once again extremely concentrated approach to his characters and their respective realities of life. He takes a lot of time to immerse himself in the world of the three main actors and to shape them into three-dimensional characters through precise everyday observations. When Sharon looks at her cell phone in the morning and is first confronted with a miserable sleep score, or when the completely disheveled Lubenski deliberately takes his time going to the toilet because these are the only minutes of the day in which he finds peace, no further explanation is needed to make the inner state of these people understandable.
Cop Lubesnik (Mark Ruffalo) is on the trail, even if there are simply no clues.
Davis, who almost embodies something like the last honorable crook with his strict, almost anti-brutal rules, seems to be in control at all times. Even when he is shot at, he finds his way back into the necessary control through conscious breathing – only emotions get him off track. That may sound cliché at first, but the interaction between Chris Hemsworth and Monica Barbaro is so sincere and sensitive that you don't doubt the fateful encounter between Maya and Davis for a moment: while gently dancing to Bruce Springsteen's “Jersey Girl” it suddenly seems possible for the professional crook to arrive. In the dull high-end restaurant, they think together about what the dish Blanquette de veau might be, and what it might be better to go to the nearest taco stand.
In fact, the characters in “Crime 101” are so vividly written and charismatically cast that you enjoy getting involved in their everyday lives and empathizing with them. It quickly becomes clear – just as was the case with the great role model “Heat” – that there are actually no classic villains in this story. Instead, you meet people with dreams, desires and obsessions who are on different sides of the law trying to somehow get their often lonely lives together.
When it crashes, it crashes!
Even though “Crime 101” is character-oriented and driven, there are always action sequences – and they are quite something! The care with which Bart Layton shapes and accompanies his characters is also reflected in the strong craftsmanship of the adrenaline-charged chases. The camera switches from the driver's seat to the bumper in the best “Drive” and “Bullitt” style, looking for perspectives from the immediate surroundings and thus making the speed and force of the cars noticeable without ever losing track or destroying the explosive dynamics through hasty, irritating editing sequences.
In general, the extremely stylish, constantly escalating production, often accompanied by a booming score that wraps itself around the images like a rumble of thunder, deserves special mention. “Crime 101” is not only an atmospheric love letter to the character-driven, decelerated genre cinema of the 1970s (including a short discussion about Steve McQueen's best film), but also an ode to Los Angeles, which makes Layton the fourth leading actor alongside Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry.
Davis and Sharon (Halle Berry) could form an unlikely alliance…
Layton is by no means content with the iconic views of traffic flowing to the horizon, transforming into a shapeless movement of light making its way through the nighttime city fabric. Instead, he consistently looks for alternative perspectives away from downtown and the Santa Monica Pier. Night-time underpasses, shady side streets with hidden back entrances, barren industrial areas, but also designer houses on the beach, exclusive jewelers and the time-honored Beverly Wilshire Hotel form cartographic coordinates of a city that pulsates and hammers in “Crime 101”, opening up space to pause and let yourself go, while at the same time reflecting the emotional worlds of the characters.
Conclusion: “Crime 101” impresses with its incredibly stylish production and, despite its star cast, is not a classic heist blockbuster, but rather a decelerated, character-oriented thriller that celebrates Los Angeles in an atmospheric way and illuminates the realities of its characters' lives in a captivating way. When action interludes do occur, they have a cracking impact in the best “Drive” style.