If
you're
expecting
a
heavy
duty,
crime-laden,
back
alley
action
film,
this
is
not
it.
Set
in
1978
in
Detroit,
"Life
of
Crime" is
an
intriguing
suspense
story
about
a
set
of
small-time
criminals
who
kidnap
the
wife
of
a
well-to-do
estate
developer
and
demand
a
million
dollar
ransom
for
her
release.
Louis
(John
Hawkes),
along
with
his
partner
Ordell
(Yasiin
Bey),
after
discovering
some
of
the
financial
secrets
of
Frank
Dawson
(Tim
Robbins),
a
real
estate
magnate,
decide
to
kidnap
his
trophy
wife
Mickey
(Jennifer
Aniston)
when
he
goes
on
a
trip
to
The
Freeport,
Bahamas.
The
kidnapping
is
interrupted
by
the
unexpected
visit
of
Marshall
(Will
Forte),
a
family
friend
of
the
Dawsons,
who
shows
up
with
the
intention
of
having
sex
with
Mickey.
The
inept
criminals
after
dealing
with
Marshall
hold
her
captive
in
the
home
of
one
of
their
creepy
friend,
Richard
(Mark
Boone
Jr.),
a
neo-Nazi
with
a
peeping-tom
problem.
Now
on
tenterhooks,
they
tell
Mickey,
"We
don't
know
Marshall
and
what
he
has
got
to
lose.
But
we
wonder
if
he
would
stick
his
neck
for
you."
And
truly
he
does
not.
Soon,
hoping
to
extort
the
ransom,
they
call
Frank
and
threaten
him
to
pay
the
ransom
or
"you'll
never
see
your
wife
again".
But
to
their
surprise,
they
learn
that
he
has
filed
for
divorce
and
is
going
to
marry
Melanie
(Isla
Fisher),
a
younger
and
sexy
woman
who
has
her
own
agenda.
As
expected,
"Life
of
Crime"
ends
with
a
surprise
alliance
that
makes
perfect
sense
of
random
justice.
Treated
as
a
black-comedy
drama,
writer-director
Daniel
Schechter
maintains
a
perfect
pulse
of
humour
and
suspense,
balancing
this
character-driven
caper
story
with
spunky
performances
by
Jennifer
Aniston,
John
Hawkes,
Yasin
Bey,
Tim
Robbins,
Mark
Boone
Jr
and
Isla
Fisher.
There's
a
fine
chemistry
between
each
characters
but
the
script
does
not
give
them
enough
space
to
explore
the
depth
of
their
relationships,
making
the
entire
effort
a
superficial
'sitcom-ish' farce.
The
period
of
the
late
1970s
is
well
captured,
with
good
production
values
and
authentic
background
score.
Unfortunately,
this
faithful
adaptation
of
Elmore
Leonard's
1978
released
novel
"The
Switch",
which
in
turn
has
been
inspired
by
O'
Henry's
1907
published
short
story
-
"The
Ransom
of
Red
Chief",
has
been
beaten
to
the
punch
by
the
similar
cultural
tropes
seen
in
earlier
films
like
"Too
Many
Crooks",
"Ruthless
People",
"The
Ref"
or
"Hostile
Hostages".
Nevertheless,
"Life
of
Crime"
is
an
engaging
film,
worth
a
watch
on
a
lazy
weekend
afternoon.