Criminal Activities

I wish there was something good about this movie so I can write a spoiler. It is plain awful. Terrible people, doing terrible things to other terrible people. The plot is pretentious and stupid at the same time. Sleazebags steal money from other sleaze-bags, so they can provide a setup for a lot of F-word and many variations, repetitions, and the derivatives of the curse word. The language gets so bad, that it becomes unbearable. Who talks like that? Even if they do, why do we need to be slapped in the face with the flood of profanity? And people pay money to be subject to this?! This is a bad movie, so bad that I consider it one of the unimportant signs that we are coming to the end of the world. Do not waste your precious time. I couldn't not finish it and just walked away.

Criminal Activities has a good cast for talent in the main roles with Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Christopher Abbott, Rob Brown, Edi Gathegi and John Travolta. The premise of the film is four old friends come up with a financial investment plan to make a small fortune but they need $200K in seed money which one of the four old friends arranges to get a loan for. When their financial investment plan quickly goes south their anonymous financial backer comes forward and demands his $200K back immediately plus another $200K in interest, or else their heads will be handed to them, literally. The loan arranger is connected to the mob underworld and he tells his four patsies that he will wipe the slate clean of the $400K loan if they agree to kidnap another hood and hold him for just 24 hours. So the kidnapping plan is set in motion with the four amateurs and although it hits a few snags they eventually get the kidnapping completed and they keep the mob hostage tied up for their loan shark waiting to get the green light to let him go. What follows is about 60 minutes of continuous blather by all cast members including a whole lot of four letter words that rhyme with the word "PUCK". Most sensible film goers would at some point get up and ask for a refund but since I purchased the Blu Ray I chose to bear with the directors master(less)piece and although I was becoming very irritated with the endless blather of totally useless dialogue by the six main characters which I assumed was necessary to fill an otherwise empty void to completing a 94 minute movie I hung in there and I was rewarded with a better than average film end. I don't want to spoil any film goers surprise ending or personal experience with Criminal Activities but to summarize the film in three acts I would rate: Act One (1) with a "C" rating, Act Two (2) with a "D" rating, and the final act, Act Three (3) with a "B+" plus rating. So if you can hang in there through a pretty boring middle half of the film with a lot of useless four letter word dialogue you may be pleasantly surprised with an above average decent film ending.

I don't get it. You take a lame script, stick John Travolta in it, and it becomes a 7 star picture. And if he'd get a decent toupee, it might make it to an 8 star movie. I don't understand how people can't call John aside and say, "John... look man... That thing is really ridiculous. Either cut it off or get a decent one, but this thing's not making it. That being said, this movie was a real kick. The actors were likable, funny, and believable. Not a spoiler, but the kidnapping scene itself is worth renting this one. Michael Pitt, fresh out of Boardwalk Empire and Hannibal, was great-- top notch actor; Rob Brown was excellent; Dan Stevens was also excellent; Chris Abbott was good; and as I said, Travolta was amazing. I don't know how he does it. I don't know how he learned to act like that because he's really done some junk. But after Pulp Fiction, he makes or breaks a movie.

Review: I can honestly say that I didn't have high hopes for this movie but it didn't turn out to be totally bad. The 4 dumb criminals, Zach (Michael Pitt), Noah (Dan Stevens), Warren (Christopher Abbott) and Bryce (Rob Brown), really didn't have a clue about kidnapping but they were stuck in an impossible situation after borrowing $200,000 from mob boss, Eddie (John Travolta). After a bad investment, they end up owing Eddie $400,000, so to pay there debt, they have to kidnap Marques (Edi Gathegi), who is the brother of a gangster who has kidnapped Eddie's niece. I know it sounds confusing but it's pretty straight forward. Whilst holding Marques in a derelict building, Gerry (Jackie Earle Haley) is on the hunt for Eddie's niece so the 4 best friends are stuck with Marques, waiting for instructions from Eddie. When the storyline unfolds, you soon realise that all is not what it seems, in a Usual Suspects type of way but I do have to watch the movie again to truly understand the major twist. The acting isn't bad from the whole cast, especially Edi Gathegi and Michael Pitt but the professionalism from John Travolta, makes the rest of the cast look quite amateur. The character that I really liked throughout the film was Jackie Earle Haley, who also directed the movie, so he really gave his all to this project. It's not in the same league as Usual Suspects but it's a watchable movie which isn't bad for the directors debut. Watchable! Round-Up: I first saw Jackie Earle Haley, 54, in Little Children, we're he played a paedophile and was extremely creepy, and since then he has starred in some big movies like All The King's Men, Semi-Pro, Fragments, Watchmen, where he played Rorschach extremely well, Shutter Island, Lincoln, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Dark Shadows, Parkland, Robocop and the upcoming London Has Fallen. He really has an impressive portfolio, which is understandable because he's an unique actor who brings intensity to all of his roles. As for this movie, I think the ending was extremely rushed and a lot of the scenes with the 4 kidnappers were average. He was lucky to get such a diverse cast, who all brought something different to the project but I would have liked to have seen more from Travolta and Haley, who were the best thing in the movie. I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama/thrillers starring John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Rob Brown, Jackie Earle Haley and Christopher Abbott. 4/10