"Crime 101" review: It's no "Heat", but...

"Crime 101," 2026, directed by Bart Layton

★★★★☆

America has missed the crime thriller. While the genre hasn’t necessarily had a shortage of entries in the last few decades, it’s never quite reached the heights that it did in the 1970s, coated in grime and cynicism and spearheaded by directors like William Friedkin and Sidney Lumet. While writer-director Bart Layton’s “Crime 101” doesn’t completely recapture the tone of “The French Connection” or “Dog Day Afternoon,” it’s an admirable – and adequately entertaining – attempt at tapping into the aesthetics. There’s enough to Layton’s direction that makes it feel unique, too, but the similarities are notable and not unwelcome.

It’s a tale as old as time; a weathered detective versus a hardened crook. In this case, the weathered detective is Lou Lubesnick (an appropriately schlubby Mark Ruffalo,) who has fallen out of the graces of both his colleagues and his wife. His foil is Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth, who struggles to be American throughout,) a career criminal who operates heists as a lone wolf, raised by the streets of Los Angeles and secretive to the point of diagnosable personality disorder. The two men mirror each other as imperfect but still empathetic; Lou’s coworkers at the LAPD are plainly corrupt and vainglorious, putting his flawed but well-meaning sense of “justice” in contrast, and Mike’s methods are explicitly nonviolent, freeing the audience from the trouble of empathizing with a murderer like Ormon (Barry Keoghan,) another thief who runs parallel to the story until the final act.

The moral comparisons that Layton’s script draws aren’t exactly subtle or novel, but they’re almost always compelling when executed precisely, which seems to come naturally here. The execution is assisted by the skilled cast, which also includes Halle Berry as Sharon Colvin, an insurance broker who becomes entangled in Mike’s criminal operation, and Monica Barbaro as Maya, Mike’s love interest. But there’s an X factor. Perhaps it’s cinematographer Erik Wilson’s slick, patient camerawork, especially in striking transitional moments on the titular 101 freeway. Maybe it’s the commitment to exciting, grounded car chase sequences. Or maybe it’s just that it’s all shot on location in Los Angeles, painting an accurate portrait of the city’s beauty and complications. Whatever it is that makes the film mesmerizing, all of the above are at play.

The most notable scene in “Crime 101” comes late in the third act when Ruffalo and Hemsworth’s characters finally intersect. Both men are undercover -- Ruffalo's detective as a courier for valuable diamonds and Hemsworth’s thief as the courier’s chauffeur. Both are beginning to recognize the deepening layers of the stakes, but neither want to let their guard down. As the scene develops, Layton builds to something somehow more exciting than the film’s competent action sequences. It’s unfortunate that it’s also in this climactic scene that the script name-drops Steve McQueen, who Layton clearly admires, reminding us that Hemsworth doesn’t quite have the same presence as some of the titans whose shoulders he stands on.

It would be difficult to argue that “Crime 101” is innovative or "important" in the way that award winning films are often touted as, but it’s an interesting entry in an industry that has seemingly forgotten what the middlebrow can and should be. Adults are allowed to watch mature stories about complicated characters, and a little derivation within that maturity is a welcome alternative to visual effects-heavy, IP-focused nonsense that often dominates screens. “Crime 101” is graciously the former.

“Crime 101” is in theaters February 13th.