Film: Life of Crime
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, John Hawkes, Yassin Bey, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mark Boone Junior
Director: Daniel Schechter
What happens when an unlikely of trio comprising a black man, a Jew, and a neo-Nazi get together on celluloid? A crime caper. Based on the 1978 book ‘The Switch’ by the prolific novelist Elmore Leonard, Life of Crime injects a dose of humour into a criminal endeavour which involves the abduction of a socialite (played by the fetching Ms Aniston) whose corrupt husband (Robbins) dilly dallies over the $1 million ransom demanded by a gentle Jew named Louis (John Hawkes) a shrewd African-American called Ordell (Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def and a corpulent neo-Nazi named Richard Monk (Mark Boone Jr).
Aniston’s Mickey Dawson is even introduced as a “trophy” wife by her real estate developer hubby Frank who, unbeknownst to her, has a sharp pillow friend (Isla Fisher) on the side as well as a tidy fortune netted through wheeling dealing and scams. The three crooks are privy to Dawson’s background info even as Mickey is clueless.
As the narrative progresses, we find the black and the right-winger are not averse to violence; Ordell is guided by guile though and the racist by thoughtless prejudice. Even the creepy married man Marshall Taylor (Will Forte) who has the hots for Mickey, covers up his tracks at infidelity instead of calling the police when he finds Mickey gone.
Louis alone comes off best, even tending to Mickey’s wounds and saving her from the Klu Klux Klansman. At the risk of being accused of anti-Semitism, your reviewer must ask: Why is the Jewish guy the only one with the heart of gold? After all, he’s an ex con. Why does Hollywood have to bend over backwards to portray Jewish men as the nicest of guys when the truest, exceedingly honest and authentic collection of religious-historical narratives shows them warts and all?
That said, let me add Daniel Schechter makes the Aniston and Hawkes pairing the best thing about this movie.
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