Why I Watched This Movie
I was watching TV last night, and this was on.
My History With Elmore Leonard Movies
* I'm ashamed to say I've never read any books by Elmore Leonard, but I have seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) several of the Hollywood adaptations of his books: Get Shorty, Be Cool, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown.
* In particular, Life of Crime is a prequel (of sorts) to Jackie Brown, which I consider my favorite - Tarantino movie.
The Review
Classic Elmore Leonard story of a perfect crime that gets increasingly complicated when people don't react like they're supposed to. The thing I love about Elmore Leonard (or at least the movies based on his work) is you never know where the story is going to go once you start watching them, which makes them great fun to watch. Also great humor.
Links
I'm largely in agreement with the L.A. Times review:
it's a given in Elmoreland that things do more than go wrong, they do so in ways no one could have anticipated. Unlikely alliances and unforeseen collaborations result as self-interested folks look out for themselves in situations where even the scammers can't be sure who is scamming whom....
As "Crime's" plot gets more complex, it's hard to avoid trying to figure out how things will turn out, but the truth is it can't be done. An Elmore Leonard cocktail of crime, comedy and character has to be mixed to exact proportions, and only the master can get it right every time.
Also the Avclub review is good for highlighting the connections between this film and Jackie Brown.
Rating :
8 out of 10 Stars (It's no classic, but it's fun to watch, so it gets a high score on the watchability factor.)
Link of the Day
Democracy is a Threat to Any Power System
Huh. Was not at all aware of this movie. I do tend to prefer Leonard movies (when they're done well -- some of them are incredible stinkers. See Burt Reynold's Stick, for instance) to his books. I'm not sure why, except that his protagonists can sometimes seem a little pleased with themselves, on the page. I'm looking forward to watching Raylan at some point.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this movie was kind of below the radar, wasn't it? I stumbled across the Avclub back when this came out, but if it wasn't for that (and it being on cable) I never would have heard of it either.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, we're even, because I've never heard of Stick or Raylan. Looking at wikipedia just now, it looks like Raylan is kinda sorta based off of the Justified TV series. Perhaps they will adopt that novel as part of the TV series?