Most of his life, Henry?s drifted ? into a not-great job, into a not-special relationship.
So when friends ask him to join them one afternoon, he aimlessly agrees ? not knowing that they?re on their way to knock over a bank.
A three-year stretch in prison gives him time, though, to plan a more active role in his own life.
When he?s paroled, Henry decides to be a bystander no longer. And since he?s already been tagged as a criminal for something he didn?t do, he decides to finally do something ? go back and really rob that bank.
The plot, though ? as ?Henry?s Crime? details it ? quickly gets complicated. It needs a few colorful accomplices. It needs some demolition work. And it needs Henry to make friends with the actors at a nearby theater, so he can tunnel under their stage and into the vault.
This is a nice idea for a comedy ? and indeed, it already has been a nice idea for a comedy, several times over. (You can trace elements of it in farces from the Italian ?Big Deal on Madonna Street? through Woody Allen?s ?Small Time Crooks.?)
What it requires, though, is some smart twists to make it fresh.
Henry's Crime (R) Moving Pictures (108 min.) Directed by Malcolm Venville. With Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan. Now playing in New York.
Rating note: The film contains strong language, violence and sexual situations.
Stephen Whitty's Review: TWO AND A HALF STARS
It doesn?t get many from Malcolm Venville?s uninspired direction. And as Henry, a miscast Keanu Reeves seems more laid-back than loser ? it?s hard to accept him as someone who has let half of his adult life go to waste without minding, or even noticing.
The supporting parts, though, are much more fun.
Vera Farmiga ? who does cold and brittle well and often ? gets a chance to cut up and howl as Julie, an ambitious actress stuck doing Chekhov in Buffalo. Full of big, selfish emotions, she may be playing ?The Cherry Orchard,? but offstage, she?s pure ?Twentieth Century.?
Also making a welcome, if less against-type appearance, is James Caan.
Some 30 years ago he was the hot young bank-job guy in ?Thief;? now it?s his turn to play the grizzled veteran and try to pass some of that hard-won wisdom on ? with a pause, a sigh, a shrug.
Occasionally, ?Henry?s Crime? doesn?t garner more than a shrug itself. Although there are some nicely offbeat characters here (including a thief with dreams of selling knockoff Tupperware) the situations could be sharper. (The whole thing could have made a terrific Alec Guinness comedy, about 50 years ago.)
But at least it still provides, in the midst of its big bank heist, a few colorful portraits and two terrific performances.
And these days, that?s not chump change.
No comments:
Post a Comment