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The collision of Valentine’s Day and President’s Day Weekend yielded some big releases at the movies this week. Below is my take on the new movies I saw. You can keep up with everything I’m watching by following me on Letterboxd @knighthawk7734.

Crime 101 (Theaters)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Barry Keoghan, Mark Ruffalo, and Halle Berry
Synopsis: I remember when I was in high school and I saw Michael Mann’s Heat. It was gripping, engaging, and unlike anything I’d ever seen. I tend to measure stories of this ilk against that one, and many audiences do, too. It also inspired a love of Los Angeles crime stories. That’s why it makes sense that we’re getting Crime 101, a slick heist drama set in Los Angeles and featuring a great cast. The film is based on the novel from Don Winslow and is adapted by writer/director Bart Layton. It also features a great trio of characters—a buttoned up master thief who’s lonely, a broken-down detective who is great at putting together the pieces, and a woman who is overlooked by those in her sphere. At the outset, we meet Mike (Hemsworth), an expert at his craft. That craft is planning and executing a series of high-profile robberies near Highway 101. As we drop in, he’s executing his latest heist. But something goes slightly awry, and it leaves him feeling vulnerable. When Mike meets with his handler (Nick Nolte), he expresses reservations about an upcoming job in Santa Barbara. He wants to pursue something new. So, his handler recruits a reckless but effective new player (Keoghan). When the job doesn’t go off clean, Mike is angry. The rift with his handler causes a split, leading him to put his recruit on Mike’s trail to rip of his next big score. Mike’s proficiency, meanwhile, has drawn the eye of Detective Lubesnick (Ruffalo). He’s been on the job a long time, and he’s a good at putting the pieces together, but it doesn’t win him many friends. When he suspects a series of heists are all coming from the same person, it rankles his bosses. They want him to close cases, but he wants the truth. Mike, meanwhile, sets his sights on Sharon (Berry). She’s a senior insurance agent for high-end clients, but she’s been frustrated in her job. Mike pitches her a way to get even by trading information. That leads to a potentially life-changing score. But can Mike dodge the heat from the LAPD and his own jilted former associate? This film does a nice job of capturing Los Angeles—and much of California. Layton has a feel for the world and the story. But at times he tries things with the camera that don’t always yield positive results. Some of the shot choices felt showy at times, taking me out of the narrative. But it’s the narrative that works. I was bought into the characters and the plot. The film takes its time to build the world and it sucks you in. I like that we have time to see the full picture of our three main characters, and to build the conflict at a slow boil. That ramps up the tension so that, by the time we reach the conclusion, you’re waiting to see how it’s all going to pop off. Let’s talk ending for a minute. I don’t want to spoil things, but I liked the way this one resolved. Often in these stories we have binaries—someone wins, and someone loses. This film finds a way to offer a different kind of twist. Is it perfect? No, but it was satisfying and felt like something different. I also enjoy the characters and performances. Hemsworth does a nice job in the lead. I like the exploration of Mike and pulling him out of his comfort zone. His back-and-forth with love interest Maya, played by Monica Barbaro, is interesting, too. I liked the depth of their interactions and the arc of the story. Berry does a nice job playing a woman whose anger is bubbling under the surface. When she finally boils over, it’s a commanding sequence and quite satisfying. I also enjoyed Ruffalo as the rumpled detective. His arc goes in a way I didn’t quite expect, but he plays it beautifully. By the time we get our face-to-face, it’s all you could hope for in the exchange. Crime 101 is a solid heist thriller. It has a strong cast, a good story, and solid execution. It’s not an all-time example of the form, but it’s well worth seeking out and should provide plenty of entertainment value.
Rating: Rated R for language throughout, some violence and sexual material/nudity.
Verdict: Three and a half stars out of five

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (Theaters)
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, and Juno Temple
Synopsis: What would you do if you were asked to risk it all to save the future? Would you jump in? Would you have questions? Would you dismiss it entirely? That’s certainly a question the audience will be asking themselves with the new film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, which opens on Friday, February 13.  The film comes from writer Matthew Robinson and is brought to life by director Gore Verbinski. It features an exceptional cast, a great look, and a wild premise. But it can’t help but draw you in to go along for the ride. We begin in a diner at night. It’s full of people with different problems crowded in enjoying a meal, some pie, or just an escape from the world. That’s when a man (Rockwell) walks in. He’s wearing a wild outfit, claims to have a bomb, and says he’s from the future. He gives a quick rant about how things all went wrong then says he’s recruiting a team to help him prevent the end of the world. The patrons don’t know what to think. Turns out, this isn’t the man’s first time in this diner. He rules out some of the volunteers, but quickly picks his team. They head out just as the police arrive. They’re on a mission, but they don’t know whether to believe what they’re being told. Through it all, we see flashbacks to learn more about some of those recruited. We see the sad or terrifying stories that have led them to that diner, and that just might make them the right people to help save the world. That is if their leader is really from the future. This is a wild premise. From the jump, you’re either pulled right in or it might push you right out. I’m decidedly in the former group. The script—through both our man from the future and the rest—is taking a hard look at what ails modern society. Artificial intelligence, the reliance on devices, and our loss of human connection are at the forefront. And it certainly makes some compelling statements. The cast here is great. Among those recruited are Temple, Michael Pena, Zazie Beatz and Richardson. All of them get their own flashback sequence, and all of them have their own hero’s journey. And it’s all wildly creative and a lot of fun. There are some big swings here, but I enjoy the script from Robinson. I thought it was clever in its premise and execution. It also gets to an emotional core with a lot of these characters. I had a lot of fun with the humor and the action. But there is also a real sense of pathos here. Verbinski does a great job of putting it all together. So far, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is one of my favorite rides of the year. The cast is great, especially Richardson and Rockwell, and it’s a fun premise.
Rating: Rated R for pervasive language, violence, some grisly images and brief sexual content.
Verdict: Three and a half stars out of five

The Moment (Theaters)
Starring: Charli XCX, Alexander Skarsgard, and Rosanna Arquette
Synopsis: If you were following music and Pop Culture in the summer of 2024, or simply had Social Media, you heard the term Brat Summer. It was the phenomenon birthed from the Brat album from singer Charli XCX. It swept the globe and caught many in the wake of its frenzy. But how did it feel to be Charli XCX? The new film The Moment is a faux documentary that takes a look at the period following that summer, picking up the action in September of 2024. It follows Charli XCX as she navigates worldwide fame and an upcoming tour. In the film, her label has decided to keep Brat Summer going forever by commissioning a new tour film for Amazon. The head of the label, Tammy (Arquette), has tapped a famous director, Johannes (Skarsgard) to direct. And he has a vision for what he wants to achieve. Charli XCX, meanwhile, had a vision for her tour and what it means to be Brat. Her chief creative officer, Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates) has spent time creating the look for the shows. But it’s apparent early on that Celeste’s vision and Johannes’ plan don’t align. That leaves Charli XCX stressed and pushed to the breaking point. As she prepares for a world tour and deals with all the chaos that comes with being her, Charli XCX has to navigate this divide in vision and decide which concert tour she’s going to share with the world. This is an interesting spin on stardom and what it takes to navigate the waters of fame. The original idea came from Charli XCX, with the script written by Aidan Zamiri and Bertie Brandes. Zamiri takes the lead as the director here. There are some visual choices in the way the film is put together that will either work or won’t work. I didn’t love some of the strobing effects and the title bars. But I assume that has something to do with the typical Brat style. As someone who wasn’t part of Brat Summer and the movement, I came into this cold. But I was still able to follow the action and appreciate the journey. I was on the fence about whether I would enjoy this film, but the longer it went on the more I was drawn to what she was doing. Charli XCX is talented and has a vision for her life, her career, and her image. She’s also something of an incredible performer, really selling the narrative here. The supporting cast was solid here, too. Skarsgard is clearly having fun in his role. But, for me, the strongest supporting work came from Gates. It’s an inglorious part, but she has a big role in the final act of the film. That made it work well for me and provided some of the most emotional moments in the film. Overall, whether you are a novice or a Brat Summer devotee, there is something captivating about The Moment. It’s worth checking out to enjoy the ride and a peek behind the curtain.
Rating: Rated R for language throughout and some drug material.
Verdict: Three stars out of five

Wuthering Heights (Theaters)
Starring: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi
Synopsis: Since it was written by Emily Bronte in 1847, Wuthering Heights and its doomed love story between Heathcliff and Cathy has been a fascination for readers and audiences alike. The story has been adapted countless times for the big and small screen, including the iconic 1939 version that earned an Academy Award for Laurence Olivier. But it’s fair to say we’ve never seen the material approached the way it has been in the latest iteration from writer/director Emerald Fennell. Fennell has a unique style when it comes to bringing stories to the screen. And that style—combined with its stars and a healthy dose of Charli XCX songs—certainly creates a vibe. But is it a vibe you’re going to want to take? This version certainly captures the arc of the classic story, but with a very different vision. We meet Cathy and Heathcliff as kids, then jump ahead to them as young adults (Robbie and Elordi). They are drawn to each other, but their romance is blocked and doomed in various ways, ultimately with a not-so-happy ending. Fennell’s major addition here seems to be an attempt to focus on desire. The tagline is “Drive Me Mad,” you certainly get some of that idea from the depiction of Cathy and Heathcliff. It’s meant to be seductive and romantic, but that didn’t seem to work that well in the construction here. First to the good—this has very strong craft. The overall look, the sets, the decoration, the costumes, the makeup and hairstyling are all exceptional. They help build a scene and a world. They help set a vibe. I also thought the actors brought some intensity. My favorite performance in the film probably comes from Alison Oliver, as Isabella, who brought the right amount of weird to the role. But the problem for me was the way the story was put together. I have been a fan of Fennell’s previous features. I loved Promising Young Woman, her debut for which she won an Academy Award. It’s a dark story, but it’s written with some verve, some black humor, and enough pathos for the characters. I didn’t enjoy Saltburn as much, but still there was something in the writing that worked. So, I was disappointed that this third feature feels so mirthless in its approach. The characters are often vicious and nasty, but without some of the winking edge that made that behavior work in her previous features. I found them wholly unlikeable and this to be a dark take on the material. It also makes the journey something of a slog. Others may be drawn in completely by the craft, but for me this was a disappointment. There was potential and some bright spots, but what it coalesces into is something of an off-putting mess.
Rating: Rated R for sexual content, some violent content and language.
Verdict: Two stars out of five