Original caricature by Jeff York of Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry and Barry Keoghan in CRIME 101.(copyright 2026)
When I first heard about the new L.A. crime drama entitled CRIME 101, I worried that it might be one of those Jason Statham or Gerard Butler type thrillers where taglines become dialogue. (Can’t you just hear Statham hissing, “Crime 101? Steal. Don’t get caught. Repeat.”) But I’m thrilled to say that CRIME 101 has much more in common with neo-noir classics based in the City of Angels like HEAT or TO LIVE & DIE IN L.A. In fact, CRIME 101 had me smiling from the moment in started as it’s exceptionally smart, grounded, and surprising in how well it develops its characters, locations, and twisty plot.
It’s even a little unsettling, and that’s a good thing too. The film starts with a discombobulating image of downtown Los Angeles filmed at night upside down. That’s right, the sky is at the bottom of the screen to give the appearance of the city turned topsy-turvy. And as the camera moves in closer, the sound design adds exponentially to the tension. This is a noir that is going to ask us to look at things atypically and go with its more offbeat sense of place, time, and inhabitants.
Indeed, in the latest film from writer/director Bart Layton we’re asked to understand both convention in the genre and how those expectations will be thwarted with great relish. Sure, the film has a tried-and-true premise – that of a successful career thief who wants one last score before he retires – but it helps that such a character is played by Chris Hemsworth, who’s fairly young for such a role, not to mention much more vulnerable in his approach than most action hero types would be with such material. The Aussie actor brings a similar fallibility to his part of Davis here, much like he did in showing just how vulnerable a demi-god like THOR could be in the MCU. Davis is smart and efficient, taking into account all the aspects needed to plan his intricate heists, but when one goes amiss, he’s not unflappable about it. In fact, he hyperventilates and is upset. He tries to ensure that no one gets hurt while he works and seeing that rule shatter, well, it shatters part of him. And without overacting, Hemsworth shows us exactly how Davis suffers.
Still, despite that screw-up, Davis remains exceedingly savvy as he manages all that comes his way in the story. At one point in the narrative, he is involved in a car chase where he must go after his new nemesis Ormon (played as an eerie Gen-Zer by Barry Keoghan). But rather than drive willy-nilly in his pursuit, Davis strategizes by traveling the side streets of LA to head Ormon off at the pass. Layton also shoots the set piece with a sense of realism that reminded me of Michael Mann’s action scenes in HEAT. The cat & mouse chase is rendered even more thrilling by doing it all realistically without relying on CGI.
The film is also smart in how it weaves in the various other characters who are central to the story, even though their plot threats don’t seem apparent for a good portion of their screen time. Mark Ruffalo plays a world-weary detective, giving off a shambling fatigue vibe like Peter Falk did when he played COLUMBO. Ruffalo’s detective Lou is overworked and underpaid, but still savvy enough to recognize patterns in the robberies even if he doesn’t have all the answers like Sherlock Holmes would. And when his nagging boss is giving him an earful, it’s not because the prick is some grumpy hack prone to rag on his maverick detectives like in so many crime thrillers. It’s because the captain is a grade A corporate tool looking for inner-departmental cooperation and making promised budget numbers. It shows that Layton isn’t relying on cliches, but rather, utilizing contemporary financial issues plaguing today’s precincts to create something far fresher in his take.
Finally, when the female lead Sharon (Halle Berry) gets woven into the story, it’s after a couple of wonderful scenes setting up her unhappiness as an insurance analyst for rich and famous clients. Layton creates scenes that could have made for a terrific character study in her own film, and Berry is fantastic in them, but Sharon is brought in to cement what’s going on in the bigger picture, leading to a wholly satisfying climax that is both intellectually stimulating and heart-pounding.
Points to Layton also for so cleverly defining the “101” part of the film’s title. It actually refers to the 101 freeway here , the escape route that Davis always plans his heists to be near for an easy in-and-out. Giving even the title double meaning shows that Layton has left no stone unturned in his consideration of how to make more of the material that Don Winslow provided in his source novel.
The film is shot beautifully, and the editing and sound are confident in their unfettered approach. It’s all so well thought out, with lived-in, rich performances, and an appreciation for location like few shows or films shot in Los Angeles ever are these days.
Usually, films that open this early in the year are suspect. (January is often called Dump-uary amongst those in-the-know in Hollywood.) But increasingly, early February is becoming a shrewd time to distribute exceptional sleepers. It happened last year with COMPANION, and again this year with CRIME 101. That pleases not only the film critic in me, but the movie fan as well who loves nothing more than to see a film exceed expectations.
