Instant Watching: Criminal

In her weekly column, Instant Watching, Christie Dean talks about recently produced obscure and independent films that are made available through Netflix’s Instant Watch feature.

In Criminal, based on the Argentinian Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens), Rodrigo (Diego Luna) is a very new, small-time con artist who is trying to make enough money to pay off his diabetic father’s gambling debts. In the middle of a botched attempt at some extra cash, he is rescued by Richard (John C. Reilly), a more experienced con man who decides to show him his methods, which involves swindling old ladies and cheating restaurant staff. Richard, severely hard-hearted and in the middle of a vague legal battle, sees potential in Rodrigo’s boyish charm and nice-guy appearance and makes him his partner for the day. Upon receiving a call from his sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhall) about an ex-associate, Richard and Rodrigo learn about a plan to sell a forged antique American bill to an extremely wealthy currency collector. The heist is out of their league, but their individual motivations make the score so enticing that they’re willing to risk everything they have for it.

I love a good heist film from The Sting to the Ocean’s movies. One of the major differences between these popular con artist films and Criminal has to do with the likability of the main characters. In Ocean’s Eleven, for example, the eleven men on the team to rob three major casinos are brilliant, capable, funny, and suave. They’re the anti-heroes you love to root for mostly because they have appealing personalities or quirks. The “minor” detail of the characters being, well, criminals not only keeps the movie entertaining but, in a way, it makes them that much more attractive. In Criminal, on the other hand, the character of Richard right off the bat isn’t the best looking guy, he’s terribly cynical, and he reeks of greediness, especially at the cost of others. And though he too dresses in suits and drives a luxury vehicle, he hardly comes across as smooth. I felt more sympathetic toward Rodrigo, but most of the time I was not rooting for them as a team–I actually found myself hoping that they would get caught and be dealt with justly. Criminal was a refreshing version of the heist movie since it does not attempt to glorify crime but rather condemns selfishness and stealing. The movie is the directorial debut of Gregory Jacobs, who worked as the first assistant director on all of the Ocean’s films.