Review of Criminal (2016) by Traepischke G — 18 Apr 2016

Now, I'm sure a lot of people are going to see it as an action film and nothing more. But really, it's so much deeper than that.

"Criminal" is brilliant. Everything about it, the setup, the cinematography, the music, the story, all of it is this intricate dance that teases us with bits and pieces before it's finally laid out before us. The directing, how beautifully choreographed everything is, the quick scene shots that build the tension, are truly masterful. Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds all perfect in their parts.

But Kevin Costner was just amazing. If you think you know him from his movies, well, you find that you really don't know him at all. Watching the transition from somewhere between a child and an animal, thinking only of survival, to a thinking, feeling human being is really beyond words to describe. And the way he plays Jericho, like how he holds his hands as if they're in shackles, even when he's free to let you know that he's been in the system more than he's been out.

You could see him as simply a brutal thug, but he is so much more. On one level, he's an animal, doing what it takes to survive. People don't really exist to him, except to take things from. He doesn't really relate to them at all. At the same time, he's a child, never being able to grow past a certain point, stuck at the time of the accident, acting out as a child would. The short time that Ryan Reynolds' character has onscreen is crucial to the way the story plays out for Jericho. And, as the movie progresses, we see flashes of Bill Pope, not just the memories, but the mannerisms, the gestures, even the facial expressions and tone of voice. Kevin Costner has done this so perfectly, so subtly, that it might slip past the most casual of viewers, but it's a critical piece of the story. It's fascinating to watch the flashes of the other personality, Jericho's confusion at the whole idea of feelings, something utterly foreign to him. He has these feelings, and isn't even sure what to call them at first. His sudden familiarity with language, passcodes, computers, stand out to us because they're so very NOT Jericho. But the easy facility with all of them IS Bill Pope, and they're played as if Bill is operating inside Jericho's body, which he is. But not all the time, which makes it even more interesting to watch, the flip back and forth between this near animal and the family man/agent/very civilized human being.

The anarchist, Xavier Heimdahl, and the CIA head, Quaker Wells, look very similar to each other. I don't think this is an accident. They are both driven men, not averse to violence, doing anything to achieve their ends. Xavier is trying to use one man's knowledge to destroy everything, Quaker is using one man's knowledge to stop him. Two sides of the same coin. Everyone is expendable to them. They are both zealots.

I love the extra touches, the homage to "Flowers For Algernon" (if you read the book, you'll know), for example.

Yes, it's a violent movie, but the violence is a necessary part if you're going to understand what's going on, the nature of memory, the difficult and unlikely hero's journey that our main character takes. If you want a movie that delivers far more than mere action, this is it.