Review of Life of Crime (2013) by Gaspar O — 02 Jan 2015

"American Hustle" lite, '70s adoring, and endearingly conscious of bumbling caper films like "How to Steal a Million" and "Topkapi," "Life of Crime" is so glittery, so breezy, and so splashy that I triple dog dare you not to like it. Adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel "The Switch" (and in case you're getting a sense of déjà vu, yes, many of the characters in "Life of Crime" are also in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," which in itself was based off of the sequel to Leonard's original work), the film rumbles with a rat-a-tat-tat-tat rhythm that makes crime seem alluring and painstakingly fun. I can't complain. The film doesn't have a realistic bone in its body, but you weren't complaining when you were laughing through "A Fish Called Wanda," were you?

Ordell Robbie (Yasiin Bey) and Louis Gara (Tom Hawkes) are a pair of career criminals who cook up a plot to kidnap the wife (Jennifer Aniston) of a shady real estate developer (Tim Robbins), intending to collect ransom and blackmail money in the process. The blueprint is foolproof, but one can only remember Ordell and Louis in "Jackie Brown": Both were idiots, if not lovable idiots.

Buffoons should not be career criminals and most definitely should not be going around kidnapping rich man's wives with plots in mind that are sitting on thin ice in the first place. But Ordell and Louis don't realize that they're ill prepared. One can only cringe when they discover that their victim's husband doesn't much care that his wife is being held captive. He is planning to file for divorce and marry his mistress (Isla Fisher).

"Life of Crime" has such a straightforward setup that you can hardly resist its pleasures. It doesn't have the complications of "American Hustle" and it doesn't have the slithery toothsomeness of Melina Mercouri (bless her heart) at its front and center. It's a comedy of vices completely jangled up by its wannabe villains, with a glowing and enthusiastic Aniston at its center. Leonard's writing is just sharp enough to steer the film clear of caper-on-auto-pilot clichés, and the cast has such an assortment of stars that you can't help yourself from getting swept up in the vibrant luster. We're only human.