About Not Heat (Crime 101)
Post 1980:
Spoiler ahead.
I was fairly pleased watching the first thirty minutes of Crime 101, a movie that some people made and other people released on Amazon. The mostly competent start devolved quickly, however, and cracks became a crumble.
There are pacing issues. There are character issues. But the main issue—a lack of consequences. I believe this movie wants to be Heat, and its only use is that it shows us how good that movie was.
It gets wrapped up too neatly, for one thing. The woman who is treated bad by her job and becomes an accomplice to a notorious jewel thief is sorta just let off the hook. The love interest to the main character is totally unlikeable and makes no sense. Why does a guy that isolates himself start to fall for the most judgmental girl in the world? Nah. She sucks. He’s a criminal, yeah, but she sucks.
Take Heat. DeNiro is the loner criminal in that one, and he forms an unlikely attachment with a woman in a time of high intensity, on the cusp of a big score. Just like Chris Hemsworth and the browbeater here, right?
No. In the former, she is a loner herself and even though she is honest and good, allows herself to be lied to. It’s sad and makes sense that those two characters fall for each other. It’s real and maybe-rewarding mostly-toxic. And… for an extra dose of consequence, he leaves her. HIs nature is to look out for number one. The affair flows. It’s not my favorite part of the movie, but it makes sense. An adult wrote that.
In this botched facsimile, our criminal hero who is highly skilled and intelligent is somehow attracted to a dictatorial girl who is completely incongruous with him. That could work, but they write it like the clash isn’t happening. When he asks to see her again, I’m asking why. And there’s no resolution. I don’t see them get over the hump or have a breakthrough. So lame. I wonder if this sad attempt at a love side story is the best they could do. Lazy.
And then there’s the cop who’s chasing the master thief. He’s pretty good at being a cop, but he mostly mopes. He’s brave in the final scene, which doesn’t seem like him, but then he lets the guy go. The real bad guy is the rando agent of chaos that’s sort of the third wheel of the story. I like a mostly nonverbal antagonist that seems almost inhuman, but I’m not sure. When he dies at the end, I suppose we’re supposed to believe the cop has instantly turned into Mr. Understanding. The thief walks. They become pals, I guess.
The main bad guy is the rich robbery victim. He’s rich and marrying a younger woman, so he’s automatically the worst person in the world. I guess he’s not into paying taxes—I’m biased, I guess, but paying taxes sucks and no one should like it and it’s the reason for America. But whatever. You got shot, rich guy. Deal with it. Hope nobody notices the gunshot wound at the wedding later. See what I mean?
It’s a serious movie with an unserious script. A shame, really. These actors can act. Mark Ruffalo can mope. And what happens to Nick Nolte? Maybe I forgot. His character was crap, anyway. Also, our incredibly meticulous jewel thief doesn’t check if the guys at the beginning have more than one weapon? He’d check that. I’ve been a jewel thief all my life and that’s like number two on the list of things.
Watch Heat. That’s character and story, 101. Cheers and see you after.
