Recxpectations: Crime 101

Here are the spoiler free recommended expectations for Crime 101.

The Google Synopsis is: “A master thief and an insurance broker join forces for a big heist, while a determined detective pursues them to prevent the multi-million dollar crime.”
Personally, I wouldn’t call it a heist film; I think heist films require some kind of intricate or interesting planning. When the most inventive aspect of any of the robberies is switching cars post-robbery or stealing a uniform, I don’t think it can be called a heist film.

TL;DR - I found this to be bland and basic. It wants to be Heat but is closer in quality to The Rip.

EXPECT: AN APT TITLE
Crime 101 is about as basic as one can get in terms of storytelling and characters. This is a drab, basic crime movie in which all of the main charactters are, for one reason or another, down on their luck. Melissa Barbaro shines because she’s one of the few characters who have any light in them. That being said, the love story is basically Barbaro’s character falling for Chris Hemsworth’s character because he’s well off and looks like Chris Hemsworth. None of the robberies are all that inventive and things get dumber as the movie goes along.

EXPECT: A DRONING SCORE
This film could also have been scoring 101 as the film just kept repeating one overbearing piece over and over (or at least it seemed like one piece) and by the time the finale arrives, it’s pretty much background noise. (Although they did add some strings at one point.) Most every scene hits the same note. Every decisive moment the same cue. Making matters worse, when the credits roll, a song with some soul finally kicks in and it’s like, “Where was that for the last two hours and twenty minutes?!”

EXPECT: TO TURN YOUR BRAIN OFF
I found the finale of the film to be just plain stupid. As the climax neared, the guy sitting next to me let out a heavy sigh and I was right there with him. There was almost no sense of “What will happen?” and instead I felt more of a “Wrap it up already!” boredom.

I do have to add that I don’t really care about car chases but there were a couple of decent ones in this film. Maybe those will elevate how some people feel about this one.