Movie Review - Life of Crime

Life of Crime (2014)

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Mos Def, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Tim Robbins, and John Hawkes

Directed by Daniel Schechter

Detroit 1978.  Seeing an opportunity, two down on their luck small-time criminals Ordell and Louis (Mos Def and John Hawkes) see an opportunity too good to pass up.  They'll kidnap the wife of prominent, though corrupt, real estate developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins) and hold her for ransom.  Little do Ordell and Louis realize that Frank has decided to divorce his wife Mickey (Jennifer Aniston) and instead shack up with the younger Melanie (Isla Fisher)...and Frank may not give a damn that his wife is out of his hair.

Life of Crime begins rather promisingly, walking the delicate line of comedy and heist film, but it unfortunately begins to fall apart after the first act failing to really go anywhere once Mickey is abducted.  Instead, screenwriter and director Daniel Schechter's film just keeps hitting the same beats over and over again.  The acting across the board is surprisingly solid, but the film based on a book by Elmore Leonard is just so far below other Leonard adaptations that the cast can't elevate the material enough to make it a success.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+