Bart Layton
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Filmography
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The harshest review dubbed it “Lukewarmth,” arguing it had no business comparing itself to Heat.
…this is a “Heat” descendant—just another branch on the family tree.
He’s very much sticking to the tropes he grew up watching in films such as Casino, Collateral, Heat, etc.
It’s hard to avoid comparisons to Michael Mann classics like “Thief” and “Heat” or Willian Friedkin’s “To Live and Die in L.A”.
…my decision to see Crime 101, came from a series of reviews comparing it to the classic heist film: Heat. Michael Mann’s 1995 classic is one of my personal favorite films…
It is no small task to make a movie that very much feels like it contains the DNA of Heat, while also retaining enough originality to avoid feeling like a complete rip-off.
They have a heist movie marathon and Google ‘how to plan a heist,’ and script out the perfect plan — complete with Reservoir Dogs code names, old man disguises, an Elvis montage, and a getaway van.
They take on “color” names, just as in Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”
Wisecracking post-Tarantino ironic meta-fiction for a decade past “Reservoir Dogs” marked a decadent phase for American crime pictures, but now movies like Bart Layton’s exemplary heist canvas, “American Animals,” bloom from that wreckage.
They watched heist movies like “Reservoir Dogs,” “The Killing,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Snatch,” of course.
The four plan the robbery by Googling “how to plan a heist” and by watching all the relevant movies they can get their hands on (especially Reservoir Dogs, which gives them the idea to use color-coded pseudonyms).
Their speech is littered with quotes from films like Jaws and The Matrix, and their plan takes way more than it needs to from Reservoir Dogs.
It’s hard to avoid comparisons to Michael Mann classics like “Thief” and “Heat” or Willian Friedkin’s “To Live and Die in L.A”.
“Crime 101” reverberates with echoes of Michael Mann movies like “Heat” and “Thief” with a side of Elmore Leonard thrown in.
The gold standard, of course, is Heat– along with Thief and The Town– each a masterpiece in its own way and incredibly hard to top.
…the cool caper crime flicks like THIEF, HEAT, and DRIVE (and maybe BABY DRIVER, too)…
Crime 101 nods to the neo-noirs of the 1980s and ’90s, namely Michael Mann’s Thief and Heat, as evidenced by its woozy synth score and that metallic blue sheen that imbues some scenes.
Though no Dog Day Afternoon or Thief, this Don Winslow adaptation works well juggling multiple plot lines and weaving suspense.
Layton zips through the obligatory preliminaries — getting a laugh out of the “scale model” cliche, letting us see the various holes in their “fool-proof plan,” as in, a plan conceived by fools who rent “Heist” and “The Thomas Crown Affair,” who watch Sterling Hayden tough-talk the gang through “the plan” in the Kubrick classic, “The Killing,” by way of preparation.
The decision to commit a robbery that will bring them fabulous wealth is based on watching too many movies like Oceans 11. (Layton was unable to get permission to use a clip from that film for a scene in which the boys watch movies for advice on how to plan a robbery; instead, he used a clip from Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing.)
Layton makes many references to a slew of crime films, with very explicit and overt nods to “Ocean’s 11,” “The Killing” and especially “Reservoir Dogs.”
Their preparations mostly consist of getting high and watching heist movies, like The Killing , and there’s a sense that if they paid closer attention to Stanley Kubrick’s film then they’d realize that these things rarely go according to plan.
They’ve already found an Amsterdam accomplice (Udo Kier, of all people) to fence the books and plenty of how-to inspiration by renting classic heist films (The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing, Rififi, Ocean’s Eleven, The Italian Job) from the local Blockbuster.
Drive (2011)
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
influenced Crime 101 (2026)
Visuals Themes Characters Plot
…una estilización nocturna que remite a Drive…
…the cool caper crime flicks like THIEF, HEAT, and DRIVE (and maybe BABY DRIVER, too)…
Chris Hemsworth playing a thief with the walls closing in feels very similar to Ryan Gosling’s unnamed role in Drive…
…the same issue that I have with Ryan Gosling’s character and performance in Drive: He’s just bland and boring…
Mike is transparently cut from the mold of Ryan Gosling’s character from Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive: moody, tightly coiled, and tantalizingly inscrutable.
…or Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive”…
“Unlike the calm, cool, sophistication of the Ocean’s Eleven crew, this crime is real…”
They watched heist movies like “Reservoir Dogs,” “The Killing,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Snatch,” of course.
Nor does American Animals do more than note in passing that these guys used films like Reservoir Dogs and Ocean’s Eleven as models when planning their own caper.
At first the film has an Ocean's Eleven vibe where the characters and crime are celebrated.
At first, this technique — sort of a cross between “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Dateline” — pulls the viewer out of the story.
The film capably guides the viewers through the fun, Ocean’s Eleven-esque planning stages (the boys literally watch a stack of heist movie DVDs for inspiration), but it doesn’t remain so lighthearted.
If you like character-driven crime films – think Out of Sight or The Town – this belongs in that company.
…sometimes as locked-in as Affleck’s “The Town.”
The gold standard, of course, is Heat– along with Thief and The Town– each a masterpiece in its own way and incredibly hard to top.
Boston has The Departed and The Town…
…why hasn’t he starred in a “Columbo” reboot?
Ruffalo is on terrific form too, shambling around like a modern-day Columbo…
Mark Ruffalo plays a world-weary detective, giving off a shambling fatigue vibe like Peter Falk did when he played COLUMBO.
Ruffalo is perfectly cast as the slovenly detective with a keen mind, a la Columbo.
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Directed by William Friedkin
influenced Crime 101 (2026)
Visuals Themes
It’s hard to avoid comparisons to Michael Mann classics like “Thief” and “Heat” or Willian Friedkin’s “To Live and Die in L.A”.
CRIME 101 has much more in common with neo-noir classics based in the City of Angels like HEAT or TO LIVE & DIE IN L.A.
If Heat and To Live and Die in L.A. weren’t stone-cold proof of L.A. being the de facto crime thriller city…
Collateral (2004)
Directed by Michael Mann
influenced Crime 101 (2026)
Themes Visuals Characters Plot
He’s very much sticking to the tropes he grew up watching in films such as Casino, Collateral, Heat, etc.
I can feel the vibe of Michael Mann, the king of Neo-noir, with films like Heat and Collateral, both of which take place in Los Angeles.
…hay ecos evidentes de Heat y Collateral…
Certain shots evoke the steely proficiency of Mann films such as Heat and Collateral, the latter of which co-starred Ruffalo as a seasoned cop.
Mark Ruffalo playing a detective who’s ahead of the curve on a mysterious criminal is directly cribbed from Collateral…
…whether Mann’s “Heat” and “Collateral”…
Resolved to tackle any possible contingency, they bone up on old crime movies, their reference points and educational tools, all the while failing to notice that many of these flicks show grandiose criminal schemes self-destructing—e.g., Fight Club and Reservoir Dogs.
A potential Point Break or Fight Club of its generation, it arrives in a different commercial landscape; it’s a game-changing film which demands the same in support to make the impact it deserves.
Much like the members of "Fight Club" in David Fincher's subversive classic, these four have no direction.
Had any of them taken the time to revisit “Fight Club” (because there’s no way these kids haven’t seen “Fight Club”), perhaps they wouldn’t have needed to throw their lives away in order to make peace with the notion that they’re not as special as their mothers led them to believe.
The French Connection (1971)
Directed by William Friedkin
influenced Crime 101 (2026)
Visuals Themes
The movie flirts with the gritty DNA of 1970s crime cinema, even evoking the spirit of “The French Connection,” yet it seldom pauses long enough to explore what made those films electric in the first place.
New York has Goodfellas and The French Connection…
It reminds you of how Martin Scorsese uses this trick to contrast his violence, e.g., Goodfellas, vibrant red taillights masking a bloody affair.
New York has Goodfellas and The French Connection…
…or “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen…
…the film’s references to Steve McQueen, specifically his films Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair, both of which are literally mentioned by name in a conversation between Ruffalo and Hemsworth during the 3rd act…
…citas explícitas a Bullitt y The Thomas Crown Affair…
At one point, two characters compare the merits of their favorite Steve McQueen films, Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair…
…later in the film, characters go ahead and start talking about Steve McQueen movies, including "Bullitt" and "The Thomas Crown Affair"…
…there’s even a scene where Ruffalo and Hemsworth talk Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair…
Blending Cronenbergian Crash vibes with Bart Layton’s documentary The Imposter , Titane is intriguing—but unfortunately, it falls short when it comes to emotional engagement.
He shows them watching films both on-the-nose (1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair) and of dubious utility; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which really only helps if you’ve robbed a train and have to get away from a super-posse on horseback.
Mark Ruffalo, whose presence can’t help but invoke Prestige TV’s most recent crime phenomenon, Task…
Ruffalo returns to “hangdog cop” territory, essentially reprising his role from HBO series Task.
Anyone who watched HBO’s Task has literally seen Ruffalo play this hangdog cop archetype in the last year alone…
Ruffalo is reliably strong as one of the few upright members of the LAPD, though between HBO’s Task and the Now You See Me films, he may want to step away from badges for a while.
Ruffalo can play this kind of rumpled cop in his sleep (see: David Fincher's best movie, "Zodiac," and the recent "Mare of Easttown"-adjacent "Task")…
Lou deals with lots of either disinterested or downright dirty cops right out of SERPICO-style flicks…
…as risky as trying your hand at demonic possession post-Exorcist…
…then add Collateral, Drive, Chinatown, and Training Day to create a beginner’s guide to the L.A. crime film landscape…