Film Review - Crime 101 (2026)

Crime 101 is based off of the novel by Don Winslow and stars Chris Hemsworth as James, a criminal in LA who is meticulous with his criminal work but when he wants out it after a big heist job sets off a chain reaction that ensares a police detective (Mark Ruffalo) an insurance company worker (Halle Berry) and a rival hitman (Barry Keoghan)

Crime 101 is a solid thriller that I enjoyed watching in the cinema, Hemsworth does a good job in the lead role and he anchors the film reliably well, Nick Nolte is also good in his brief appearance and I also enjoyed Mark Ruffalo as the grizzled detective and Halle Berry as the insurance worker.

But where this film didn’t win me over was the side plot with Monica Barbaro’s character, I loved her in Top Gun Maverick and A Complete Unknown but every time the film cut back to her storyline I lost interest as I felt that it took away from the heist thriller that was unfolding around it and her scenes could’ve gone to Berry’s character without too much retooling of the script for that to happen.

And so that was Crime 101 and it’s a solid thriller with a good cast if a little too long with one sideplot too many, 3 out of 5.