Life Of Crime
Daniel Schechter
The story: Trophy wife Mickey (Jennifer Aniston) is kidnapped by Louis (John Hawkes) and Ordell (Yasiin Bey) for ransom. But unknown to the bumbling criminals, her husband Frank (Tim Robbins) is already planning to leave her for his mistress Melanie (Isla Fisher). Based on Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch (1978).

The bar has been set quite high for Elmore Leonard adaptations with films such as Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown (1997), Barry Sonnenfeld’s Get Shorty (1995) and the ongoing TV neo-western drama Justified.
Director Daniel Schechter (The Big Bad Swim, 2006) throws his hat in the ring with Life Of Crime, but comes up a little short.
The elements of a black comedy crime thriller are there, but the sum of the parts is a not-quite-satisfying whole despite a game cast trying their best.
Aniston (We’re The Millers, 2013) is sympathetic as the wife faced with her husband’s infidelity and the certain knowledge that he will not want to pay the ransom. Robbins (Thanks For Sharing, 2012) is spot-on as the boozy, blustery bully of a husband who is compromised by his dodgy business dealings.
And Fisher (Confessions Of A Shopaholic, 2009) is the bimbo mistress who is smarter than one might expect. When the kidnappers contact Frank, who is in the Bahamas with her, via telephone, she suggests unplugging it. It is a smart move given that the show is set in the 1970s, way before the advent of pesky mobile communication.
Despite having a husband and a married admirer Marshall (Will Forte from Nebraska, 2013), it is ironic that the person nicest to Mickey turns out to be her captor Louis (Hawkes from The Sessions, 2012). There is a gentleness in the interactions between the two that feels unforced.
As ransom negotiations drag on, the plot starts twisting and turning like a pretzel.
The pacing is a little too leisurely though and the double-crossings and dealings feel too low-key. This is one of those instances where the volume could have been pumped up more: Life Of Crime needed to be darker, funnier and more violent.
It all builds up to a delicious twist in the final scene, but as Melanie remarks at one point: “Let’s be honest, the whole thing could have been set up better.”
(ST)