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It may not stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best Elmore Leonard adaptations, but Life of Crime has enough ambling charm -- and a sharp enough cast -- to get by. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Double-crosses and plot twists abound when a corrupt real-estate developer (Tim Robbins) decides not to pay a ransom to his wife's (Jennifer Aniston) kidnappers (John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey).
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Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language|Violence)
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Genre: Crime, Drama, Comedy
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Original Language: English
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Director: Daniel Schechter
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Producer: Ashok Amritraj, Liz Destro, Michael Siegel, Jordan Kessler, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Lee Stollman
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Writer: Daniel Schechter
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Release Date (Theaters): limited
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $261.7K
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Roadside Attractions
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Production Co: Gotham Group, Ashok Amritraj
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for Life of Crime
Critic Reviews for Life of Crime
Audience Reviews for Life of Crime
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Ending felt forced, but aside from that, quite liked this one as this genre goes. Definitely Jennifer Aniston makes the movie.
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This isn't a movie that, despite a more than talented and capable cast, never really click for me at all. I just found the narrative itself to be unfocused, like they were never sure just who it was supposed to be about. It's also not a particularly funny movie, despite claiming to be. It certainly has it's funny lines and everything, but it's not what I would call a consistently funny movie. There's a couple of moments, here and there, where you get a chuckle out of it and Frank's unwillingness to give in to the kidnappers' demands is both funny and, really, kind of sad that he'd look at this as a positive since he's so sick and tired of Mickey. I think, mostly, the film is about Mickey's coming to terms with the fact that her marriage, no matter which was she looks at it, is absolutely doomed and that she needs to get out of it one way or another while also getting her own special vengeance on her husband on the way out. This actually leads to the film's single biggest laugh, at the end. It wasn't completely unexpected, but it was still oddly satisfying in its own way. It's just feels empty, like there's not much really going on here despite the fact that there is. It just never moves past a second gear. Once the hostage situation is underway, nothing else really changes in the film. It all stays at the same level. At least, this way, there's no consistency issues. It's not a film with peaks and valleys, but that's also the problem. It doesn't peak, at all, unless you consider the last scene a peak. Of course, by this point, it's simply too late to impact the film one way or another. It's not poorly made, not at all. It's got some great costume design and it features one of Jennifer Aniston's best performances, not saying a lot, I know, but she's still good here. Everyone is good here, though. That's not the problem. I just think the cast lets them down with an incredibly empty script. It's not that I would say it overstays its welcome, I think it's actually well-paced for a film that has next to nothing going on for it, but it does move along at a nice pace. Shame really, because the cast does do a good job with what they're given, it's just that they're not given much to work with. I don't know if I'm honestly being too kind in giving it 2.5 stars. A lot of that is technical aspects and cast performances, but it's a movie that you can kind of enjoy, even though it's average. I don't think it's really that enjoyable on a number of levels. So there's that. Not particularly recommended.
jesse o Super Reviewer -
The plan was simple, kidnap a rich suburban woman, while her husband and son are out of town. The husband is corrupt, so he will be more than willing to pay a ransom, in order to keep them quiet, and to get his wife back, right? This group of bumbling, life-long criminals thought they had it all figured out, except for one small problem, Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins) isn't really interested in getting his wife back. This strange film, based on the novel, Switch by Elmore Leonard, takes place in the late 70's, and had critics raving, but after seeing it for myself, I'm left with one question, why? After the kidnapping takes place, the film moves at a snails pace, with criminals arguing, and phone calls back and fourth, nothing happens for the majority of the film. Jennifer Aniston stars and gives probably the worst performance I've ever seen her give. She is this spoiled, whiny, rich bitch, who just doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut. It really got to the point where every time she spoke I cringed. On the other hand, Tim Robbins, who plays her husband, was hilarious, but not in the film nearly enough. One of my favorite young actors, Charlie Tahan, also has a role in the film, as their son. In the brief amount of screen time he has, we see a very troubled and confused kid, an angle that could have helped the story, but he too was hardly used. The majority of the film features Jennifer Aniston interacting with her kidnappers and trying to form a bond with the bumbling idiots. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a comedy or just a comedy of errors wrapped up in a dramatic theme, but either way it doesn't work. Most of the cast is absolutely horrible, the majority of the film is unbelievably slow, and the parts that aren't, just don't make a whole lot of sense. Life of Crime had quite a few side stories that could have been utilized to fill up the space and break up the monotony, but it was all left on the cutting room floor, leaving us with a film that could be used as a method of torture at Guantanamo Bay.
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Based on an Elmore Leonard novel, Life of Crime is a clever and entertaining thriller. The story follows three small-time criminals who kidnap and ransom a real estate developer's wife, but their plan starts to fall apart when the developer refuses to pay. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, Isla Fisher, and Mos Def, the film has a solid cast. The script is also pretty good, and is able to bring in some light humor while still keeping an element of danger and suspense. Yet it takes a while for the plot to get going, and there are some extraneous elements that hold it back. However, despite a few weak spots Life of Crime is a rather fun and exciting film.
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