"Crime 101"

  ☆☆☆☆½ 

The prevailing view of movies made by streaming networks is that they dumb things down too much, that distracted audiences scrolling social-media websites and ordering delivery food while keeping one eye on the TV represent the future of movies. It's impossible, the reasoning goes, to create a really good movie for an audience like that.

So, consider it a minor miracle that director Bart Layton has adapted a novella by Don Winslow into a movie as slam-bang great as Crime 101. With Thor himself headlining, my expectations were low, but not only does Chris Hemsworth deliver a phenomenal performance as a master jewel thief with an odd code of ethics, he's joined by some of the smartest actors working today. The result is a crime thriller that can stand alongside some of the true movie greats.

Somehow, in 2026, more than a decade into the streaming revolution, here's a movie that feels suspiciously like it's going to become a classic.

Which doesn't necessarily mean it will play well on streaming, ironically enough. It's a twisty, complicated thriller, a movie that spends the first hour of its considerable running time setting up what turns out to be practically a factory full of machinery that needs to run precisely. Does it ever.

By the time Crime 101 gets where it's going — and by that, I mean a very specific location somewhere in L.A., though I wouldn't dare spoil the surprise — all those pieces need to fall into place. As a viewer, the true delight for me was: I had no idea what exactly they had been designed to do. As one character after another descends upon that location, I was filled with an unbearable and delicious sort of tension, because I could not figure out just what was going to happen once they all arrived.

It's a long time getting there, and the movie begins the process by introducing us to the good-looking, brooding Mike (Hemsworth, of course), who knows his way around jewel heists. He has a rule, though, one he won't violate: Nobody gets hurt.

Mike has been pulling heists for a gravelly-voiced fence named Money (Nick Nolte), who senses Mike might be unable to pull off the next job, set for a Santa Barbara jewelry store. All of the heists, it turns out, are pulled at locations right off the 101 Freeway in Southern California. That fact catches the eye of police detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), who is trying to figure out not only who's stealing the diamonds, but how he's doing it.

The how, it turns out, involves some digital shenanigans, and in preparation for the next job, Mike needs to hack into the files of Sharon (Halle Berry), an insurance broker who specializes in very high-end clients. Meanwhile, Mike finds himself drawn into a relationship with a meet-cute stranger named Maya (Monica Barbaro), who may be far too guileless for his tastes.

Apart from Maya, everyone in Crime 101 shares a common trait: They're exhausted. They're tired of trying so hard — and Sharon, in particular, is trying way too hard. When her paths cross with Mike, she begins to realize just how easy it would be to double-cross her thankless employer.

If this all sounds like a setup for a classic noir thriller, it is, and Crime 101 follows in the footsteps of some great modern noir by setting its story in L.A., where the sun shines brightly enough that the shadows appear by themselves; this movie doesn't need the cover of night to show the unseemly side of the city.

And yet, it isn't entirely unseemly — there's a surprising amount of humanity in Crime 101, including a far-too-brief appearance by a bedraggled Jennifer Jason Leigh as the wife of Ruffalo's detective. They've both given up trying. Most everyone in Crime 101 has. But a few million in fenced diamonds sure could solve a lot of problems.

Director Layton, who also wrote the considerable screenplay, hasn't made many movies, but the ones he has, including the documentary The Imposter, have been impressive. Still, maybe nothing could really prepare a moviegoer for a film as assured, gripping, thrilling and satisfyingly adult as this one. Crime 101 is solid proof that even in the age of short-attention-span streaming, it's possible to make a damn good movie.

Viewed Feb. 22, 2026 — Alamo Drafthouse DTLA

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