Lightdeossk
Captivating movie !
BallWubba
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
notalwaysweak
I swear I was trying to pay attention but after a while the male characters started to kind of blend together until I couldn't quite tell who was who. It was all brown hair and moustaches and aside from the black guy and the big guy they were so same-y.The DVD blurb made the movie sound more interesting than I thought it was. It felt very slow-paced for something that was meant to be 'action-filled'.Also the large chunk of racism and anti-Semitism was just... weird. I don't know whether that was where the 'comedic gem' part was supposed to come in; if so it really didn't work.Always like Jennifer Aniston, and she played her role well, but sadly she was the only bright spot in this movie.
airfoyle
My wife and I stumbled on this slight-looking movie on our streaming device (Amazon), and stayed up too late because we got so caught up in the story. Only when we reached the credits did we realize it was based on an Elmore Leonard story. With John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey, Tim Robbins, and Jennifer Anniston and other fine actors in the cast, how can you go wrong?Although the story has its share of humor (mainly handled by Mark Boone Junior as a Nazi) and suspense (will Bey, Robbins, and the treacherous Melanie, played by Isla Fisher, succeed in killing or maiming Anniston's character?), it's not as crazy or violent as, say, "Fargo" or "The Professional" (the Gary Oldman/Natalie Portman movie). I love those two movies, but they don't set some kind of new standard of excess that every movie has to meet. Not every director is the Coen brothers; not every actor is Gary Oldman. If you're so jaded you can't appreciate "Life of Crime," stop going to see action movies!I gave the movie a "7" because for me a movie has to be a serious drama or a comedy you can watch many times before it can earn an 8 or 9. A solid 7 is a good rating for a story whose purpose is entertainment.
blanche-2
The summary of this described it as a comedy. I didn't find it funny."Life of Crime" from 2013 is based on an Elmore Leonard story, "The Switch," which has some of the same characters as "Jackie Brown." Sadly this is not in Jackie Brown's league. I'll give it this - it has a great soundtrack.Jennifer Aniston stars as Mickey, married to a prize jerk, Frank (Tim Robbins), who is involved in shady real estate deals and tax evasion. Unbeknownst to her, he's channeling money to a secret bank account, and his trips include meeting up with a young girlfriend Melanie (Isla Fisher). He also plans on divorcing Mickey and marrying Melanie.Louis (John Hawkes) and Ordell (Mos Def) have the idea of kidnapping Mickey and holding her for a million dollars ransom. They figure they know too much about his illegal activities for him to refuse.It turns out that the only one with any brains is Melanie. When Frank gets the phone call about Mickey, Melanie takes over. She starts taking the phone calls, claiming Frank isn't around. It finally occurs to the kidnappers that Frank doesn't really want Mickey back.There are two other men in the plot who are potentially trouble, but in different ways. There is the neo-Nazi racist with more guns than the Army (Mark Boone Junior) and a guy (Will Forte) who bonds with Mickey. This just didn't hang together for me. It certainly isn't up to the standard of Elmore Leonard as filmed by Tarantino. I think the filmmakers were going for a Tarantino/Cohen Brothers type of movie, but they didn't pull it off."Life of Crime" has good ensemble acting and some funny dialogue, but its pace is off, and it has a low-budget feel to it. It also lacks the layers of films like "Fargo" or "Jackie Brown."I've never been a fan of Jennifer Aniston's, and this didn't move her up on my list. I consider her just okay. When I think of female stars who can carry a film, she isn't one.
punishmentpark
Based on an original story by Elmore Leonard, with some characters who also appeared in Tarantino's 'Jackie Brown', plus a promising cast. More than enough to get me interested. To a point, 'Life of crime' didn't disappoint; the comedy aspect is played down a lot, and the 'vibe' is pretty much like a sincere crime film with plenty of intelligent twists and turns.But it doesn't work as well as it should have, somehow. The opening is promising, but it certainly isn't an acting-, and / or dialogue-palooza like 'Jackie Brown' was. It seems like the magic was missing. Most of it was rather bland, if not boring. The final twist reminded me of how this should have surprised me in every next scene. Not Robbins, not Aniston, not Bey, not Hawkes, not Boone Junior, nor Forte convinced me (most of the time), though much should be blamed on the writers and the director, in my opinion. Fisher was most convincing, by the way, even if I never got to see her "big'uns"...5 out of 10. Nice soundtrack, though, especially that solo bass guitar.
