This old-school crime thriller is the kind of film that’s rarely made these days – a character driven heist thriller with a fantastic ensemble cast, and genuine tension throughout.

Premise: A professional thief with a code of conduct (Chris Hemsworth) robs jewellery couriers along the 101 Highway in California, meticulously planning each heist. On his trail is Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), an ostracised cop who’s the only one who believes that the robberies are connected. Their paths are destined to cross with Sharon (Halle Berry), a high-end insurance broker dealing with misogynism at her firm, and Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a violent petty criminal looking to break into the big leagues.

Review:

To deal with the elephant in the room immediately; yes, thematically and structurally Crime 101 does share some DNA with the 1995 classic Heat and could (very ungenerously) be seen as ‘Heat-lite’. But to be honest with you, the fact that this surprisingly enjoyable crime thriller is being mentioned in the same sentence as Michael Mann‘s masterpiece is arguably a sign of just how good it is.

Like Heat, this movie is a character-based crime thriller that follows protagonists on both sides of the law, although in Crime 101 the canvas is also opened up a little wider to follow other main characters beyond the main cop/criminal duo. Chris Hemsworth plays a professional thief who specialises in robbing jewellery couriers, in meticulously planned heists where he leaves no DNA or other physical evidence, and avoids the need to use violence to get what he needs. Chris Hemsworth’s performance is very emotionally buttoned down, even as he starts an initially awkward romance with Monica Barbaro‘s “civilian” character, but he does a great job of conveying the damage that his character has suffered which has led him to build emotional walls separating him from the rest of society. As intelligent and professional as his character is, there’s also a sense that his experiences have stunted his emotional maturity, so that he’s like a child in an adults’ world when he’s in “ordinary” social situations.

“…Halle Berry is the beating heart of the movie…”

On the other side of the law is Mark Ruffalo, playing a character who, on paper, could have felt cliched – the renegade detective who’s the only one to realise what’s really going on, but who’s shunned by his colleagues for not “playing the game”. But in Mark Ruffalo’s hands, Detective Lou Lubesnick is far more than just a trope or an architype, he’s a complex and sometimes contradictory character who reveals more and more layers as the film progresses.

Halle Berry, meanwhile, takes a part that could have felt entirely functional (an insurance broker who becomes connected to a potential heist) and turns it into the beating heart of the movie. The most human and relatable of the four main characters, Halle Berry brings to life the powerlessness that her character feels as a woman in her 50s in an inherently chauvinistic industry, where her skills and talents are overlooked by both her sleazy boss (Paul Adelstein) and her entitled billionaire client (Tate Donovan).

“…visually dripping with style & flair…”

Rounding out the main cast is Barry Keoghan, who plays an unstable and violent up-and-coming criminal, who’s looking to make a name for himself in the LA underworld. Barry Keoghan’s performance strikes an impressive balance between at times making Ormon feel like a dangerously unpredictable threat, and at other times making him feel quite pathetic, as it becomes clear to the audience just how out of his depth he actually is.

Writer and director Bart Layton has put together a fantastic ensemble cast for Crime 101 – as well as those already mentioned above, the supporting cast includes Nick Nolte as an underworld fence and Corey Hawkins as Detective Lubesnick’s longsuffering partner, and it even brings in Jennifer Jason Leigh for one scene as Detective Lubesnick’s wife. Visually, Crime 101 is dripping with style and flair, and calls to mind (no doubt deliberately) Michael Mann’s work on Heat, Collateral and Miami Vice in terms of making the city feel like an integral character in the movie (the opening shot of the 101 Highway is a real joy to behold).

“…delivers tense set-pieces & satisfying character arcs…”

While some of the plot elements earlier in the film were a little predictable (because the movie was focusing more on the character development), I was genuinely surprised by some of the plot developments in the final act, and the finale itself was unexpectedly cathartic. Overall, the film delivers tense set-pieces, satisfying character arcs, visually engaging cityscapes, and even a couple of impressive car chases – more than enough to keep audiences engaged for a couple of hours.