LIFE OF CRIME (2014)

Genre: Crime/Comedy
Director: Daniel Schechter
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Tim Robbins, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mos Def, Charlie Tahan, Seana Kofoed
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: GV
Official Website: http://www.lifeofcrimemovie.com

Opening Day: 11 September 2014

Synopsis: When a pair of low-level criminals kidnap the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer, they get both more and less than they bargained for in Life of Crime, a dark caper comedy based on legendary author Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch. Starring Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, yasiin bey, Mark Boone Junior, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, and Tim Robbins, Life of Crime is packed with the outrageously eccentric characters, black comedy and unexpected twists that earned Leonard a reputation as one of America’s sharpest and funniest crime writers. Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston), the wife of crooked real-estate developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins), is kidnapped by two common criminals (yasiin bey and John Hawkes), who intend to hold her for a $1 million ransom and extort her husband with inside information about his illegal business dealings. But Frank, who is holed up in the Bahamas with his mistress, decides he’d rather not get his wife back, setting off a sequence of double-crosses and plot twists that could only come from the mind of master storyteller Elmore Leonard.

Movie Review:

Hollywood loves adapting Elmore Leonard for the big screen; not only is the late novelist’s works often concise enough to fit within the runtime of a feature film, his blend of memorable dialogue, colourful losers and lowlifes and darkly comic twists have lent themselves easily to such adaptations. Not all however may proven to be successful at capturing the spirit of Leonard’s works – whilst some like ‘Get Shorty’, ‘Jackie Brown’ and ‘Out of Sight’ have seemingly done so effortlessly, others like ‘Be Cool’ and ‘Killshot’ have fallen by the wayside simply because they fail to make the material snap, crackle and pop.

The good news for Leonard’s fans is that writer/director Daniel Schechter remains faithful to the word of the text; indeed, those who are familiar with the 1978 source material known as ‘The Switch’ may even be able to pick out some lines which have been taken verbatim from the book. The bad news is that while being one of the most faithful adaptations from the author, it lacks the spark found in the aforementioned favourites. In fact, when compared with Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Jackie Brown’, Schechter’s caper is sluggish and spiritless, redeemed only by a stellar ensemble cast which includes Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey (previously known as Mos Def) and Tim Robbins.

The comparison with ‘Brown’ is inevitable though, and some have even gone as far as to label ‘Crime’ a prequel to that 1997 movie. To be sure, it is not a prequel, but the association lies in how both movies share the characters of Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie, which in the case of Tarantino’s film, were played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson. The new Louis and Ordell here are portrayed by Hawkes and Bey, who admittedly acquit themselves admirably even in following the footsteps of De Niro and Jackson respectively, especially in how they contrast their respective characters.

When we first meet them in the depressed Motor City in the late 1970s, Ordell is plotting to kidnap the wife (Aniston) of a sleazy businessman Frank Dawson (Robbins) while he goes off to the Bahamas to see his much younger mistress (Isla Fisher) and to keep an eye on his less-than-legal assets stashed away. Besides his partner Louis, Ordell also enlists the assistance of a racist, neo-Nazi nutjob (Mark Boone Junior) whose role is as a comic foil as well as a loose disreputable confederate by whose actions the entire plan could fall apart. That’s not the only twist in the story though: Frank, who has filed for divorce, simply refuses to pay; his gold-digging girlfriend Melanie handles the negotiations in the hopes of getting something out of it; and last but not least Louis starts to develop a kindred connection with Frank’s wife.

Such complications are de rigueur in Leonard’s universe, but Schechter stages them with little flair. Instead, he lets these narrative developments go by amiably, such that not only is there little urgency to the telling, there also doesn’t seem to be much at stake in the first place. You don’t feel that Mickey, Frank’s wife, is in any particular danger. Neither do you expect Boone’s unhinged character to pose much of a threat in the end, nor for that matter do you get the sense that Will Forte’s supporting character, a family friend with designs on Mickey, will jeopardise the kidnapping in any appreciable manner.

Thankfully, the game cast keeps the film humming. Aniston is in fine form as the trophy wife, though you wish she’d were a little tougher around the edges. Robbins and Fisher share some amusing moments together as an adulterous pair, and Forte who sports a porn-star ’stache and long sideburns adds to the humour. But the show belongs to Hawkes and Bey, the former of whom reveals a lesser-known affable side as the sweet-natured Louis to whom the latter provides a nice complement to as his wryer, more conniving and more cold-blooded accomplice. They don’t match the chemistry of De Niro and Jackson in ‘Jackie Brown’ for sure, but do a good enough job holding the show together most of the time.

And yet, despite the cast’s best efforts, Leonard’s signature elements of crime, comedy and character are too slackly spun to live up to the author’s prose. It isn’t quite so much Schechter’s scripting than his directing that is lacking – indeed, Schechter’s script which he had written on spec did carry Leonard’s stamp of approval, who is given an executive producer credit here – and one need only look at ‘Jackie Brown’ or even David O’ Russell’s ‘American Hustle’ to realise just how inert his staging is. The 70s ought to pop with energy, verve and style, all ingredients which this ‘Life of Crime’ could do with a lot of. 

Movie Rating:

(Despite a stellar cast, this generically-titled Elmore Leonard adaptation is sluggishly paced and unimaginatively staged, lacking the pop, crackle and snap of the author's works)

Review by Gabriel Chong