Review: Criminal

One would think that mixing Frankenstein, Freaky Friday and Flowers for Algernon would result in something more inspired and intriguing than the insipid and overwrought cauldron of boredom that is Criminal.

Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA operative in the midst of a mission to deliver a duffel bag full of money to a squirrelly hacker nicknamed "The Dutchman" (Michael Pitt) in exchange for the missile launching technology in his possession. Pope's operation is thwarted by Spanish anarchist Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Mollà), who kills Pope when he fails to share his knowledge of the Dutchman's whereabouts. All would seem lost for CIA bureau chief Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) save for an experimental memory program devised by Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones).

Dr. Franks' program allows for the transfer of memories from one brain to another. Though tests have been successful in animals, human trials have not yet been conducted. Wells is determined to track down the Dutchman, whose location only Pope knew, before Heimdahl gets to him first and carries out a plan to overthrow governments around the world. Wells believes that Franks' procedure will allow him to extract that valuable information. For some reason, the only viable human candidate to receive the transfer is lifetime criminal and sociopath Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner), whose childhood brain trauma apparently makes him more conducive to such a transfer of highly classified information.

Oldman shouts a lot during the film (to be fair, so does Mollà) but never more so than during the post-op scene where he is yelling at Jericho to remember, remember, remember. Oldman's performance, if one can call a display of lung power a performance, is so over-the-top that it becomes both ridiculous and embarrassing. Jones, meanwhile, is too weary for such histrionics, opting instead to pipe in with a line or two from the sidelines as an escaped Jericho is unleashed on the streets of London, where he clashes with some of the most painfully stock characters ever seen.

Along the way, he's sidelined by increasingly frequent memory flashes of Pope's wife Jill (Gal Gadot) and daughter Emma (Lara Decaro). Pope's personality begins to imprint itself upon Jericho, who suddenly finds himself speaking perfect French and feeling all the feels. The scenes between Costner and Gadot as Jericho connects with Jill and Emma convey the more human elements of the farfetched plot. Despite the good work by both actors, their efforts are buried beneath the limited screenplay by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg and the even more limited direction by Ariel Vromen.

The bombast of the action sequences may please diehard fans of the genre, but it's fourth-rate Bourne at best. The quick cutting and handheld cameras only add to the overall slackness of the movie.

Criminal

Directed by: Ariel Vromen

Written by: Douglas Cook, David Weisberg

Starring: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Jordi Mollà, Alice Eve, Michael Pitt, Antje Traue, Lara Decaro, Scott Adkins, Amaury Nolasco, Colin Salmon, Sope Dirisu