Criminal (2016)

Criminal is the latest feature directed by Ariel Vromen and it stars Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.  The plot surrounds the CIA’s desperate attempt to extract information from a dead CIA operative by transferring his knowledge into a volatile prison inmate.  The inmate wants to play by his own rules of course but instead he finds himself bombarded with emotions he never knew he could have.

Kevin Costner takes the lead as convicted killer Jericho Stewart and he is by far the best part of this film.  He consistently is battling what he wants to do versus what he feels he has an obligation to do as a result of gaining the information from the dead CIA operative.  Gary Oldman plays CIA handler Quaker Wells and Oldman’s performance is delightfully over the top but it didn’t bother me as that is what I have come to expect from him in terms of acting performance.  Tommy Lee Jones portrays Dr. Franks the person responsible for Jericho Stewart’s new emotions and CIA intel.  For me, it is by far the most subdued performance that I have seen from Jones in a very long time.  I wish I could say that was a compliment but it instead acts as an indicator of why the film is so dull.

This is one of those films where everyone tries their absolute best to make simple dull material believable.  For me, this is something to be admired but also something that can’t be given praise.  If I end up being bored by the action taking place on screen that says there was nothing in the film to keep the pace moving.  The difficult thing is that it’s extremely challenging to ding a movie that is trying so hard to be entertaining and failing on every level.  I love the idea of the concept behind the film because it is not often that a man condemned by the world as beyond saving gets a second chance to live life on his own terms.  There are definitely elements from other films such as Face/Off and Self/less another film coincidentally starring Ryan Reynold’s about switching bodies with someone and how that has an effect on the main characters in the story.

My favorite moment in the film is when Dr. Frank has his initial conversations with Dr. Frank.  The two actors have several witty exchanges and those initial provided the film with some levity before the drama began.  Unfortunately, the lack of balance overall lead the film to feel slowly paced and flat.  Balance was crucial for this film to succeed because the intensity of this film should have been matched by what the character was discovering about himself but I didn’t feel that here which is why the film was boring for me.

Criminal tries so hard to not be a cliché action thriller but it fails on all levels despite excellent talent and an intriguing premise.  What I would have loved to see is more of Jericho Stewart’s past.  Show audiences more of what he wished his life was before he was sent to prison at such a young age.  Allowing audiences to see what Jericho wished his life had been would have given audiences a way to connect to the character while also coming to terms with the fact that Jericho has his own agenda.