Crime 101 is so-called because a number of crimes are taking place along the 101 Highway, primarily by Thor (Chris Hemsworth – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), who works for Nick Nolte (Angel Has Fallen), who really doesn’t sound well, these days.
Thor’s believed to be couriering diamonds, but steals them instead because it pays better, and somehow, all his thefts are untraceable by the cops, including the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo – Now You See Me 3: Now You Don’t) – who’s thorough cop, but it’s held him back from promotion, and between him and his partner, you can imagine who his boss is talking about when the words are uttered, “Bad cop, fat cop”.
Meanwhile, Storm (Halle Berry) is an insurance saleswoman for wealthy clients, as well as being required to investigate allegations of insurance fraud, so all these individuals will find their paths cross over at various points in a film that’s rather like a Michael Mann-style thriller, in both look, tone and music, whilst also being set in a mix of Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V.
Barry Keoghan, the naked man from Saltburn, also pops up as a younger and more eager version of what Hemsworth used to be, but while Crime 101 is a hugely enjoyable film, the script does feel a little rough around the edges and could be improved, and that surprisingly, even for a film running 140 minutes, I felt an EXTRA 20 minutes could’ve helped flesh things out a bit.
This would apply to Monica Barbaro‘s (A Complete Unknown) character, Maya, who ends up in a dalliance with Thor. This either feels like a side quest left in by mistake, or just badly edited, since when the plot doesn’t require her, she’s just forgotten about.
It’s interesting that while Ms Berry has been working for a long time for her firm, and is sick of being passed over for partner, she’s hinted at how she won’t get it because she’s 53… when Halle turns 60 in August! 59! She hasn’t aged a day!
However, for both her and anyone in advancing years, she uses her phone to monitor her sleep overnight, and then tell her wakening self that she has a poor sleep score, which annoys her. Just make the app tell her it was great, and then everyone’s happy!
Finally, why does this film need EIGHT producers? And when I see a cast actor’s name amongst the list, like Chris Hemsworth, what exactly does he do to earn that credit?
And really finally, Crime 101 has done surprisingly poorly at the box office, despite all the promotion. After two weekends, it’s only taken $46m, and somehow the budget got out of control at $90m, meaning it’ll need to recoup at least $250m to break even and that won’t happen. Hence, so far, it’s a box-office bomb, like Halle’s poor Moonfall and almost for the terrible Never Let Go.
Yes, it’s got big names in it, but it feels like it shouldn’t have cost so much.
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credit scenes.
Crime 101 is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 140 minutes
Release date: February 13th 2026
Studio: Amazon MGM Studios
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic Panavision, X-OCN ST (8.6K))
Rating: 8/10
Director: Bart Layton
Producers: Tim Bevan, Dimitri Doganis, Eric Fellner, Benjamin Grayson, Chris Hemsworth, Bart Layton, Shane Salerno, Derrin Schlesinger
Screenplay: Bart Layton
Novella: Don Winslow
Music: Blanck Mass
Cast:
Davis: Chris Hemsworth
Sharon: Halle Berry
Lou: Mark Ruffalo
Ormon: Barry Keoghan
Maya: Monica Barbaro
Money: Nick Nolte
Angie: Jennifer Jason Leigh
Monroe: Tate Donovan
Adrienne: Andra Nechita
Tillman: Corey Hawkins
Madeleine: Crosby Fitzgerald
Phil: Patrick Mulvey
Lisa: Hanako Footman
Mark: Paul Adelstein
Devon: Devon Bostick
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.