"One heist connects them all."
Cleverly titled “Crime 101,” the 101 refers to Highway 101 that runs through Los Angeles, not how to commit a crime.
Mike (Chris Hemsworth; “The Avengers” series, “Thor” series, “Rush”) is an elusive jewel thief. Neatly groomed with a pressed shirt, expensive watch and black getaway car, he’s a loner, driven and disciplined. He plans with precision, gets his target, and knows how to get in and out quickly and cleanly without hurting anybody. Little did he know that his luck might be running out. With so many jobs, there’s bound to be a chance for one slip that may unravel everything.
Maya (Monica Barbaro, “Top Gun: Maverick”), whose car accidentally collided with Mike, doesn’t add much to the story, although it makes you wonder how she could have a relationship with a man with no known past, photographs, family or friends.
Sharon (Halle Berry, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”) is a single and successful insurance executive working for a firm underwrites and insures valuable or frivolously luxurious assets for the rich.
Astute and perceptive, Sharon has been waiting patiently for years to make partner in her firm, only to find out that the firm continues to keep her at arm's length. The men in suits treat her like she’s only useful because they could rely on her to close deals by using her considerable chic charm to capture potential pampered clients. She might be standing on a high moral ground at first, but little did she know that that’s about to change when Mike crosses her disillusioned path.
Detective Lou, (Mark Ruffalo; “The Avengers” series, “Now You See Me” series) is a dogged detective with marital mess and career quandary, working in an integrity-deficit workplace and office politics, and trying to catch a big break to maintain his position.
One interaction with Sharon gives Lou the clue that he needs. Catching on that a series of human actions create a pattern; he’s now able to narrow down the robbery circumstances and perpetrator of those high-end heists along the Highway 101 corridor. Little did he know that he and Sharon would run into each other again and again.
Omon (Barry Keoghan (“Eternals”) is a wild card robber, volatile and violent, and never hesitates to shoot. In other words, Mike’s exact opposite. The two will soon track down each other, culminating in a chase sequence and eventually life or death confrontation – following Lou’s sting operation, reaching an unpredictable crescendo in one single room.
From aerial and upside-down shots of glassily lit nights to sun-draped days to arteries of freeways and streams of headlights and grittiness of the streets and city underbelly, the cinematography glossily gazes at the City of Angels. The film runs on a slow burn pace, especially in the beginning, and it does feel long.
Each character in the intertwining storylines receives a closure, both satisfying and slippery in morality. “Crime 101” is a character-driven and solid throwback contemporary crime thriller.
