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Absurd premise marks 'Criminal' action; TCM Festival update
CRIMINAL (Rated R)
Kevin Costner, creeping slowly into senior citizen status, still has the action chops.
Only two years ago in “3 Days to Kill,” he was a dying CIA agent trying to reconnect with his estranged family while on one last dangerous action-fueled mission.
In “Criminal,” Costner’s Jerico Stewart is a death-row inmate estranged from reality. Lacking emotions and empathy, Jerico is a treacherously unhinged sociopath incapable of having any moral concept of right from wrong.
But first, the set-up for Jerico’s role in this action picture is the fate of an American CIA operative stationed in London. Ryan Reynolds’ Bill Pope, a dedicated family man, has a beautiful wife, Jill (Gal Gadot), and a young daughter, Emma (Lara Decaro).
The propulsive story begins when agent Pope is tragically killed in the middle of an urgent, top-secret mission.
He’s been tracking the brilliant hacker known as “The Dutchman” (Michael Pitt), who has uncovered while navigating the lawless Dark Web the means to take charge of the entire weaponry of the U.S. military’s Central Command.
An international terrorist, the anarchic Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Molla), intent on controlling the U.S. nuclear arsenal to advance his own agenda, is in hot pursuit of The Dutchman with his coldblooded henchmen.
The CIA’s London bureau chief, Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman), embarks on a rather far-fetched scheme that requires a maverick neurosurgeon Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones) to find a recipient for the dead CIA agent’s brain.
The idea is to find the one person who might be able to absorb Pope’s memories. The ideal candidate is located at a maximum security prison in West Virginia. Jerico’s childhood brain damage makes him unpredictable but suitable to the medical experiment.
Like a Frankenstein test, Jerico undergoes brain surgery for the implant of Pope’s DNA directly into the synapses of a brain that just might be the equivalent of a blank slate, given the recipient’s lack of human emotions.
At first, the operation appears to have failed as Chief Wells and his crew get nowhere with Jerico. But Jerico, unsure of what has happened to him and in fear of his life, escapes and finds himself on the run.
Jerico’s anti-social behavior manifests itself in a series of violent encounters with ordinary Londoners, and soon he has swiped food, medicine and even a service van for transportation. Unaccustomed to freedom, Jerico’s impulses are completely out of whack.
In a relative short period of time, Jerico experiences flashes of Bill Pope’s memories, leading him to visit the widow and daughter at home. They are naturally surprised that this odd stranger has apparently connected to Pope’s innermost thoughts.
To say the least, Jerico’s strange appearance and odd behavior make the connection with Pope’s widow and daughter even more awkward than Whoopi Goldberg trying to convince Demi Moore that her dead husband is now a ghost with whom she’s in constant contact.
Still, the edge slowly comes off the normally disturbed Jerico such that he starts to have abnormal feelings of empathy, where his emotions are not rooted in pure rage and anger, but instead sympathy and trepidation are taking root in his heart.
As observed by Aristotle, “Memory is the scribe of the soul.” The good memories of Pope have pushed out, albeit only temporarily, the bad memories of a deranged psychotic killing machine. Jerico may be worthy of redemption, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
“Criminal,” for all of its good intentions, does not sink into a swamp of sentimentality, though Jerico becomes increasingly protective of Pope’s family, to the extent that he might unselfishly become heroic in efforts to save them after they are kidnapped by Heimdahl.
After all, the filmmakers are not going to waste Costner’s newfound image of tough guy who could convincingly beat the living daylights of assorted thugs. To be sure, there are plenty of fights, car crashes and gunplay to deliver the requisite amount of mayhem.
The high concept at work here is to create a hybrid of high-octane action mixed with the psychological intensity of a man conflicted by another person’s memories.
In the end, “Criminal” is much less the sum of provocative ideas than it is just pure mind-twisting thriller. The absurdity of the brain swap is a reach too far, but the intense action may prove sufficient for an audience seeking the thrills offered by a robust Kevin Costner.
TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL UPDATE
The seventh annual TCM Classic Film Festival is just around the corner, beginning on April 28th in the heart of Hollywood.
A few more notable events have been added to an impressive schedule of film screenings and special events:
1. Investigate journalist Carl Bernstein will join the festivities for the opening night’s 40th anniversary screening of the political thriller “All The President’s Men.”
2. Beloved Oscar winner Angela Lansbury joins the festival with a conversation for the screening of “The Manchurian Candidate.”
3. Oscar-winning actress and singer Rita Moreno will introduce a 60th anniversary screening of the cherished musical “The King and I.”
4. Fan favorite Burt Reynolds will not only participate in a sit-down interview about his life and career but will be on hand to introduce a screening of “The Longest Yard.”
The TCM Classic Film Festival, in a few short years, has established itself, with a wide range of films and programs, as the place for film lovers to gather.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
