Criminal

Criminal, 2016

Directed by Ariel Vromen, 113 minutes

Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot,

Review by Katherine Scheetz

Operative Bill Pope (Reynolds) winds up dead after an excruciating torture scene marked by electric shock to the teeth, with valuable anti-terrorist information in his head about asylum-seeking tech genius, “The Dutchman.” Experimental neurosurgeon Dr. Franks (Jones) is called to transplant Bill Pope into the head of Jericho (Costner) – who has a frontal lobe condition, making his brain the perfect blank slate to imprint Pope’s data onto. He also happens to be on death row.

Central Intelligence’s goal is to allow Jericho to get the anonymous “Dutchman” to safety, but both volatile characters go rogue and make more than a few uncalculated decisions. Jericho’s recall inevitably pulls Pope’s wife (Gadot) and daughter (newcomer Lara Decaro) into the race against time – and   a nuclear deal with the Russians. 

The CIA London office is HQ for this pseudo-sci-fi thriller, giving cinematographer Dana Gonzales the chance to paint a gritty picture of London with aerials of urban bustle.

However, this is a movie carried by its cast, particularly Costner’s enigmatic performance. He straddles the dichotomy of Pope and Jericho with gravelly grace, unadulterated rage against polished CIA training. Gadot is a willowy breath of emotion opposite him, haunted by her husband’s expressions that shadow Jericho’s face. It’s a moving duet of a performance, bulking up Gadot’s 2016 resumé of releases (Triple 9 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).

              The script is as accommodating as Costner’s fluidity – springing us from fluent French to ‘I’m speaking Spanish mother-effer’ in under 10 seconds. While Vromen’s thiller isn’t breaking any box office records, it’s a solid reminder that Costner hasn’t lost his touch.

             

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