Continuing a theme, this week we’re discussing crime but this time, in movies. Movies are great examples of compact, concise writing within a genre. Caveat: I have indeed seen The Godfather and Goodfellas. Both are masterpiece films and if you haven’t seen them—do, go, now, run-run-run.
Neither film makes my list of essentials for one reason, neither are crime movies. The Godfather is a family epic of cultural and civic identity against the violence of 20th century capitalism. Goodfellas is a nostalgic fable, complete with ABC-Afterschool-Special ending. I passed over the Bogart and Cagney films for similar reasons.
I also omitted Casino, Miller’s Crossing, and Once Upon a Time in America—all exceptionally good movies with crime elements but not crime movies. Truly, I love Miller’s Crossing with shameless abandon but it’s not a crime film, it’s the Cohn brothers’ wink and a smile to the crime genre.
So, without further ado...
5. Devil in a Blue Dress
From Walter Mosley’s incredible book, Devil in a Blue Dress is the rare movie that improves on the source material. Ezekiel “Easy” Rollins, (Denzel Washington) is a recently unemployed war veteran willing to do anything legal to keep his house in 1947 Los Angeles. Daphne Monet, (Jennifer Beals) is a Creole woman passing for white who is engaged to a Los Angeles mayoral candidate. Throw in systemic racism, murder, and a stone-cold killer from Louisiana named Mouse, (Don Cheadle) and you have an absolute masterpiece of crime.
4. Hell or High Water
David Mackenzie’s new western is a master class in crime. Full. Stop. Two brothers, (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) beaten down by abuse and tragedy rob banks to save the family ranch. Jeff Bridges steals everyone’s lunch money as a Texas Ranger, (real-deal bigoted and deadly) days from retirement who is obsessed with hunting down the duo. Hell or High Water is nearly perfect and proves you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to tell an original, compelling story. Sidenote: there is a metric ton of heart in this film and the only reason it doesn’t rank higher is because of groundbreaking nature of the other films.
3. Thief
When we meet Master thief Frank, (James Caan) he’s dancing as fast as he can to stack up enough money to get out of the life and truly live with the years he has remaining. Then Frank stumbles into a meeting with Leo, (Robert Prosky) an organized-crime boss who brags of “box-car sized scores,” and Frank thinks he’s found a shortcut to the finish line. Thief is based on a book by cat-burglar Frank Hohimer who served as a consultant on the film—while dodging a murder indictment. That informed perspective was previously unheard of in crime cinema and it is part of what sets this film apart. Thief is also the director at the top of his game. Michael Mann’s legendary attention to detail is hitting on all eight cylinders here, right down to the difference between retail and what the thief actually gets. Attentive viewers will see some elements from Thief recycled in Mann’s 1995 film, Heat but Thief is leaner, meaner, and with none of the exposed squib-trigger wires.
2. Winter’s Bone
Ree Dolly, (Jennifer Lawrence) is the oldest of three children and dreams of escaping Ozark poverty by joining the military when she graduates from high school. But Ree is also the family caretaker. Her brother is too tender to hunt for their food, her sister is still too little, and their mother is mentally ill/ heavily medicated. Then Ree learns that her meth-cook father put up the family home for bail and is purportedly dead. To save her home from the bail bondsman, Ree runs a gauntlet of scary men—Ree’s sociopathic uncle Teardrop, (standout John Hawkes) even scares the local sheriff—and scarier women to find her father, dead or otherwise. Debra Granik’s film, (based on Daniel Woodrell’s book) transports crime from the dirty city streets to desolate dirt roads. Winter’s Bone is broken-teeth honest and the shadow of poverty is even scarier than the specter of death.
1. Fresh
Fresh, (Sean Nelson) is a drug courier, lookout, and safeguard for his friends. He is also 12-years-old. We never see or hear from his biological mother but razor-sharp scenes with his father, (Samuel L. Jackson) hint at why he’s in foster care and why his sister, Nicole, has surrendered to a deadly-abusive relationship. While working out a plan to free Nicole from the clutches of two CREEPY-assed dopemen, Fresh runs heroin for one drug boss and then works as a lookout for a crack dealer. Ambition and/or talent is terminal in this world and Fresh lives in mortal fear of either drug dealer getting wise to him. When two classmates are gunned down, Fresh knows his time is running out and he must execute his chess gambit or die a pawn in the game. Like Winter’s Bone, Fresh is in-your-face intimate and painfully truthful. There is no “happy ending” here and Boaz Yakin’s film will haunt you long after the credits roll.
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