Polished and assured, Crime 101 runs an exceptional cast through a complicated heist plot based on a Don Winslow novella. Despite superb production values, the film — like all of Winslow's work — is studiously derivative, Heat-lite with a happy ending.
Director Bart Layton's script pits super-crook Davis (Chris Hemsworth) against dogged cop "Lou" Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo). Davis plans impeccably timed thefts that avoid violence and leave no evidence behind. But Lou sees a pattern in the robberies, which all take place along US 101.
Davis works by sizing up unhappy employees who might be willing to double-cross their bosses. Like Sharon Coombs (Halle Berry), who sells expensive short-term insurance policies to high-end clients. Although promised a partnership, Sharon is repeatedly passed over because she's a 53-year-old Black woman.
Before Davis can arrange a meeting with Coombs, his fence Money (Nick Nolte) pushes a jewel theft in Santa Barbara. When Davis says it's too dangerous, Money hires loose cannon Ormon (Barry Keoghan) instead. Ormon's outbursts threaten to expose Davis to the cops.
Everyone in Crime 101 is desperately unhappy. Davis is so insecure that he can't talk to his date Maya (Monica Barbaro). In fact, women keep complaining that he won't look them in the eye. Lou's wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) dumps him in a coffeeshop, his boss suspends him after a suspect is killed, and his partner threatens to quit. Coombs has to watch a younger rival take her clients, then listen to her boss's sexist insults. Ormon doesn't even try to tamp down his rage, at one point lashing out at a crying infant.
The acting throughout is unexpectedly powerful. Hemsworth rarely lets his characters show any weaknesses, but here he fully commits to someone who is teetering on the edge of an emotional catastrophe. Ruffalo leans a little too heavily on Zodiac-meets-Columbo, but he's just too good an actor to lose viewers. Monica Barbaro turns in another expert performance as a skeptical woman who aggressively forces Davis to confront his faults.
The real surprise here is Berry, whose Sharon is full of frustration, fear and anger. Berry is both precise and emotionally open in a role that is the most nuanced in the movie.
The dark-hued cinematography by Erik Alexander Wilson, BSC, is the most obvious link to Michael Mann's films. The location work, ranging from the Beverly Wilshire to seedy waterfronts, provides a strong, convincing LA missing from movies too long.
Crime 101 is always good, but it could have been great. The promised confrontation between Hemsworth and Ruffalo devolves into a debate about Steve McQueen, one of the least interesting ways to examine their opposing philosophies. Layton fumbles the climax, too, aiming for an Out of Sight shootout but settling for less.
Faults aside, this is one of the better thrillers to reach the screen in months.
The film opens Friday, February 13, only in movie theaters, via Amazon MGM Studios. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.