Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

petdix-1 cinematography starts out excellent, actors talented but do not bother with this film. I love Eddie Izzard and Steven MacIntosh; all the other actors were excellent but this was a hateful script, which tortures viewers. We readily identify with MackIntosh's & Natasha Little's characters, so evil done to them is spikes driven into our eyeballs. Not since "Clockwork Orange" have I hated a film so intensely and I admit that Clockwork had redeeming values, art-wise & social commentary-wise. "The Criminal" was a lame excuse for someone who is de-sensitized to violence (whether by video games or limbic system dysfunction) to slam viewers' heads down onto a table. I put it on fast fwd after 20 minutes into the film and made stops to catch up with dialogue, skipping violence. Thus, for me, the film was thankfully 45 minutes long. Despised the ending. Let it be known that my favorite writer is Dostoyevsky. So I'm not a suburban granny making whiny comments. I can handle intensity/violence if the plot is worthwhile & characters get to develop (I have to hand it to MackIntosh, his work in this was, as usual, top notch). My favorite movies are "Dr. Zhivago" and "Gangs of NY" (and I recently appreciated "In Bruges") These films do not spare the viewers' sensibilities, with Cossaks slaughtering innocents and Bill Cutting's vengeful personality. Please DO see Anything else that these talented actors have done & best wishes to the script writer. Director, you've got talent but get out of this genre, it's old hat.

AlanSquier I'd like to be kind as this was the director's first film. The trouble is there just isn't anything particularly good to say about it.Well, I'll take that back just a little. The beginning looks good, the musician picking up a gal, and then her getting murdered. But that's about it. From there on, it's a downhill slide of contrived complications, red herrings, swearing inspectors. The swearing in this film was something else again like the British are trying to prove that they can be as foul mouthed as Americans.I won't urge you to skip this. You might have reasons of your own to see it and if you do, all I can say is good luck.

objesguy I saw the Criminal on Palm Pictures VOD and i must say, while at first I was skeptical, I thought it was a fantastic movie that unwounded perfectly with many twists and turns along the way. Each scene gets better and better and the story only gets more confusing but in a way that works towards its advantage rather than the opposite. Once the movie ended, I was just stunned, in almost awe of the film I saw, for everything will come unraveling at the end and doing so in a fantastic way to boot.The acting I admit was a bit mediocre. The main character was decent, but his acting wasn't award worthy by any standard. The other cops do an okay job as well, with the male police officer being the best, but overall this won't win any awards for acting (note to director: the American girl was awful! She shouldn't be allowed to act ever again!). However, what really wins over is the plot. It does a good job revealing little hints throughout the movie e.g. Usual Suspects to provide the viewer with a grasp of what's going on. But viewer be warned, when you think you know it all, you'll be in for a real surprise. Believe me, i thought this movie was going to be a real cookie cutter noir film. It's much more than that, you just have to be patient with it.Is The Criminal the film of the decade? Probably not. But it's one hell of a ride. After thirty minutes in you'll be so immersed in the story you might forget all about the mediocre acting. With a great plot, intense action, and unbelievable suspense, The Criminal is one of those surprise films that should get recognized more in the states but probably won't. It's definitely more refreshing than the usual Michael Bay garbage we're used to here.

The_Void The Criminal is undeniable proof of the adverse affect that Pulp Fiction has had on cinema. The title of the movie is actually ironic, as the movie itself is no better than a common criminal. After paying money to see it, you'll see why. Basically, The Criminal is a huge waste of 90 minutes. I can think of multiple better things to do in 90 minutes than watch this movie, one of them involving your own toenails and a pair of rusty pliers. After seeing the film, I doubt that you will disagree. It is with that in mind that I say; don't bother with this movie. The premise of The Criminal is actually quite intriguing, and you'll be forgiven for thinking that the film is worth watching for that reason. After the first ten minutes, you'll think that you've made the right choice in deciding to see the movie. You're wrong, but you won't know it yet. The movie opens with a man chatting to a woman in a bar. After hearing his speech about dance music being rubbish, you'll be utterly convinced that you're in the right film, but you're not. The man and woman, after some banter, go back to his apartment. Events transpire, and she ends up dead. Shock, horror! Indeed, as it's down, down, deeper and down from then on. And just to clarify; I don't mean 'down' as in 'down into Britain's criminal underworld', unfortunately.Steven Mackintosh takes the lead in this film. You'll almost certainly recognise this man from one of Britain's good crime films; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The character that Steve plays here is, in fact, only a certain plant away from being the same character that he played in Lock, Stock; namely, a wimp who happens to be in a world of criminals. The rest of the cast isn't noteworthy, with the exception of the police inspector. He isn't noteworthy for anything but swearing a lot, however. He swears and he swears and then he swears some more. That's all he does, and it gets beyond a joke after the third or fourth swear word. It's a blatantly obvious attempt to cash in on the childish 'coolness' of profanity.Pulp Fiction's influence can be seen all too often through this film; but what The Criminal doesn't realize is that just because it worked for Pulp Fiction, doesn't mean it will work here. At times, the film works in flashback sequences that just pop up from nowhere, it sometimes uses cool dialogue to convey it's points, and sometimes puts stuff in just for the sake of having it there; and all in all, it's extremely annoying. That's all this film is really; annoying. Annoying, boring and unoriginal sums it up perfectly, and it is, with no fear of a lie, one of the worst movies of recent years. Maybe even of all time