Review of Criminal (2004) by Reuben C — 27 Aug 2010

"Criminal" is supposed to be a fun heist movie with an inventive plot and rich characters. Unfortunately, it barely succeeds in any of those areas.

The film, based on the Argentinian "Nine Queens", is about two con men, John C. Reilly and Diego Luna, who meet each other on the job and decide to team up for what would be the biggest heist of their careers. My biggest problem with this movie is Reilly's lead performance. John C. Reilly is a good comic actor, but I have never been impressed by his serious roles. To me, everything about him, from his silly curly hair to his minute mannerisms, is made to be laughed at, so it's difficult to take him seriously even when he wants you to. Diego Luna is a good actor, but doesn't do much more than mumble in this movie. And Maggie Gylenhaal, who I also generally like, is horribly cast as Reilly's sister who is supposed to be a mysterious character, but her performance is just annoying. The characters are given complex backstories, which I suppose are supposed to endear the viewer to them even more, just drag the movie down.

The plot also leaves a lot to be desired. The heist is too simple, and the stakes never seem high. You're supposed to root strongly for the con men to succeed, but the point where you start to care never arrives. However, there is a major twist at the end of the movie which does redeem it somewhat (and made me change my rating from a 30% to a 40%), but it didn't give me back the boring hour and a half leading up to it. And even this twist, while entertaining, doesn't make much sense in the context of the story.

This movie features underwhelming acting and a weak plotline, and it's pretty boring until the last 5 minutes. It's definitely not the worst thing out there, but there is no particularly good aspect aside from the ending, and that does not make this movie worth watching.