Review of Life of Crime (2013) by Harry W — 05 Oct 2014

Although the trailer didn't establish the intended tone of the film, as Life of Crime had a good cast lined up I figured it couldn't hurt to check it out.

I found myself pleasantly surprised with Life of Crime in the end. It wasn't a perfect film, but it was an entertaining one.

The main flaws that come into play in Life of Crime all fall into the narrative. The story in Life of Crime is a somewhat familiar one, but that is hardly the issue. The problem is that it just isn't the most interesting. The story is only able to go so far due to its simplistic nature as well as the slow pace of the narrative, and although the script is full of strong dialogue and the stylish and easygoing nature of the film make it an easy viewing, there is no getting around the fact that the story is a rather thin one which actually does not go all that far. It has some complicated subtext to it and the slow pace gives viewers the appropriate amount of time to truly take everything in, but all in all the plot actually ends up feeling largely only like half a story extended to feature length. I'll admit it is able to cleverly pull it off and the film is engaging, but the story is just a little too simple in the end. It is a film a lot more about the characters who are all fairly interesting, but the limited amount of plot dynamics they actually have to work with makes the entertainment value of Life of Crime limited.

Also, as there are a lot of characters, many subplots end up making their way into the narrative. A lot of them are pulled off well such as the subplot relating to Richard's narcicissm, but others such as the relationship between Ordell Robbie and Melanie Ralston seem confusing and random unnecesarry, as well as the presence of the character Marshall Taylor who really fails to add much to the story at all as his entire subplot ends up going nowhere and contributes little to the story. So all in all, Life of Crime has quite a few narrative flaws to it.

But all in all, Life of Crime was still an enjoyable film and much different from what I was expecting.

One thing that I really enjoyed about Life of Crime was how easy it was to watch. The atmosphere of the film ended up allowing the story to succeed as a legitimate crime story, but it remained light as a whole which meant that it was able to be appropriately gritty and yet had the presence of some subtle deadpan humour. It wasn't the comedy I was expecting, nor was it all that funny. But honestly, I enjoyed it a lot more this way because then it never derived from the serious focus of the story. Life of Crime was subtly gritty and a lot more about sophistication which meant that it demanded more from its actors than its art directors, and so it ends up as a character-oriented film in one of the best possible ways, even if its narrative is flawed.

The premise is somewhat similar to the popular comedy classic Ruthless People in the way that Frank Dawson refuses to pay his wife's ransom and doesn't care about seeing her further anyway. But the one thing I found was that the film handled it very well. It was able to maintain dramatic maturity with the dynamics the entire time, including both this and the friendship that develops between Mickey Dawson and Louis Gara. It handled the subject matter excellently without making it cheesy which would have been easy to happen, but it just serves as a reminder of the firm direction that Daniel Schechter gives to the material. To put it simply, everything in Life of Crime is very sophisticated, from the dead on art direction and costuming to the strong dialogue in the screenplay. And thanks to those elements, albiet mostly the cast of the film, Life of Crime ends up as a fairly good feature.

John Hawkes is the standout actor in Life of Crime. The Academy Award nominated actor reminds us how he scored a nomination for that award in Life of Crime. He leads the story really well because he has some funny moments while he handles the material maturely and instantly establishes himself as a likable figure which is an important thing for a lead. He plays out the role without resorting to any sort of archetype and instead focusing on his natural charm to work it out, and it ends up succeeding because his performance is understated and subtle yet obviously skillful due to the realistic nature of his line delivery and his physical involvement in the material. He says every single word of the script with strong understanding of the material, and his interactions with the surrounding cast members are all very impressive. John Hawkes makes a perfectly compelling lead in Life of Crime, and he stands out from the many talented actors in the cast as the finest.

Jennifer Aniston is also very impressive. There is a lot of hype around her role in the film and her presence is one of the contributing factors leading to the idea that the film could have been a comedy, but without overacting at any moment she tackles the material in Life of Crime excellently. Her naturally sassy archetype is completely thrown aside in Life of Crime in favour of a far more realistic and sympathetic figure which means that she has to focus a lot more on real natural dramatic charisma. And while at the start of the film I kept seeing her in archetype form, without realising it that soon faded away as her character develops through all the material in the story. Jennifer Aniston really impressed me in Life of Crime because she is easy to care about and you can see how she transitions from being weak at the start into an independent figure, as well as the fact that her chemistry with John Hawkes is excellent. Jennifer Aniston's performance in Life of Crime is impressive and her finest in years by far, so she is a serious benefit to the film.

Yasiin Bey is great in Life of Crime because he is a real smooth talker. Him and John Hawkes share some great scenes together because the chemistry they share is so easy, and it is the most important element in his performance because it shows how easily he matches wits with John Hawkes. While he doesn't precisely hit the same level of success, his performance is an impressive one. His dramatic skills come to him easily in Life of Crime, so Yasiin Bey does a nice job as well.

Mark Boone Jr. was also memorable because his over the top nature brought some decent comic virtues to the story as well as intensifying things. His role is reminiscent of some of John Goodman's works, and he sinks into the character so easily with grit and narcissism which gives him a driving sense of aggression. Mark Boone Jr. is like a mix of John Goodman and Penn Jillette, and it is just great.

Tim Robbins is good as always, and Isla Fisher is very confident in her part. Will Forte is decent as well, even though his character doesn't seem too necesarry.

So thanks to a very talented cast and Daniel Schechter's sophisticated handling of the material as director, Life of Crime ends up an interesting and legitimate crime story which is able to mostly transcend a lot of its narrative flaws.