cornelius
A most entertaining movie with that greatest gift – humour, to which should be added a gratifyingly complex plot. It's been some time since I came across such an enjoyable film and hence am at a loss why there have been so few votes and a rating of 6.4, I give it a minimum of 8.Our team is a group of pretty incompetent French robbers who are sent to do a job in Chicago, where they are beset by a variety of complications. I say team since a fair number are involved which makes it impossible to draw all the characters in depth, all the more so since there are so many other people involved.Give it a try and enjoy it for what it is instead of trying to draw parallels with other pictures.
fixyourcat
"Crime Spree" is a good movie. It's not a great one, but it's certainly very funny and quite entertaining. Its major problem is, though, that it's almost completely ripped off from either "Snatch" or "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels." Now, don't get me wrong: I enjoyed "Crime Spree" immensely and I do recommend it. However, don't go into it expecting to see something original or revolutionary, especially if you're a Guy Ritchie fan.Writer/director Brad Mirman crafts a cute, international comedy with the requisite murder/theft/convoluted plot that has dragged Ritchie to the spotlight while bringing nothing new to the table. One disappointing aspect of "Crime Spree," though, is that it neither has Ritchie's blitheness nor his gravity in serious matters. When, in either "Snatch" or "Lock, Stock," the characters find out that they're screwed, we can feel just how screwed they are. In "Crime Spree," we don't know them well enough to comprehend the level of crap they're in. This is probably because Mirman doesn't take the time to establish the characters well enough to make us feel anything for them. We see that they're a likable group of guys who happen to be hapless thieves, and that's where the character development ends.I think Mirman's biggest problem is that he underwrote the script. The scene that catapults the story is too unexpected and weird, because it involves a character too peripheral. It takes a huge leap of faith to think that something so minor could result in an onset of problems that big, because said peripheral character lacks the motivation to be involved in the plot in the first place.Now, speaking of the plot. The plot has Ritchie's signature written all over it, only whereas Ritchie begins at the beginning, so to speak, when he introduces his characters, Mirman gets lazy and does expository dialogue instead. This is probably a mistake, since he has neither the style nor the substance to fill the holes well enough and make me ignore the sloth of his writing.Lastly, Mirman's work suffers from a lot of side ordership. There are only two important groups in the forefront, but Mirman stuffs the movie with side characters that seem to distract from the development of the main characters. Whereas Ritchie somehow incorporates these side assemblies into the main plot, Mirman doesn't have the skill to do this, so I wind up feeling annoyed at the fact that some totally arbitrary people are stealing the screen time. I wish to Christ that, in the cases of both Ritchie and Mirman, or any of the numerous on-the-rise directors who want to follow in that vein, people learn that simplicity isn't always a bad thing. A movie doesn't have to have thirty protagonists to be good. Both "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock" had this problem, but in those movies, the side characters were at least somewhat amusing.Despite these rather grave errors, "Crime Spree," as I said before, is a good film. It's light (though not light enough) with dark moments (that are, alas, not dark enough), but it works in its own odd, plagiarist way. Mirman has style in terms of shooting the thing and a couple of moments in the film work better than anything Ritchie has ever spawned. Also on the plus side in the Mirman column, he has assembled an excellent cast that can at least act.Do I recommend it? As I said, absolutely. But if you're looking for something to blow your mind and you've not been living in a Luddite compound in terms of the Ritchie Revolution, "Crime Spree" just won't do it for you.
dwaremada
An American having lived in France for more than 10 years, I enjoyed the movie for a number of reasons: recognizing the actors from many other films,living almost daily with the comparisons between French and American, knowing Chicago and identifying with the characters reactions on being in the US for the first time. Most of all, though, was the film's excellent script (no loose ends), great interpretation by the actors, and the unique combination of seriousness (violence and loss of life) with the comedy of the situation and this all wrapped up with a fun and unusual ending. I watched the film 3 times in the French version and look forward to seeing it again in English, which I hope will be as good.
somebody_yansi11
i enjoyed the movie very much.It is all about a gang of french guys who always screw up their boss' operations. To be able to convince their boss that they are capable of doing even one operation successfully they take on an assignment that brings them to America. But in a twist of fate the assignment opens more questions for them to answer and they find themselves entangled in a web of the mafia, the Latin gang, the negros and the police department.This movie is definitely a must watch. It is very hilarious and the story is meaningful. The lines and the moves may not be new to some but they are incorporated in the movie quite well. Although there might be technical flaws and inexperience in the part of the director, it all comes down to a good watch anda very funny experience. Hey as they say the whole is better than the part of it, right!!! Peace out!!!
