"Henry's Crime" presents itself as a comedic modern noir in the vein of films like "The Ice Harvest" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". It creates a pretty solid tone, and all of the parts surrounding the core are created well. James Caan and Peter Stormare do fine work and the plot could have been interesting enough, but it all falls apart when it gets to that core. I've never been as hard of a hater of Keanu Reeves as most people seem to be, but here he completely destroys the film.
If there had been an actor with some charisma like Robert Downey Jr. or Colin Farrell sitting at the top of this film, it would have been a nice little slice of modern noir. Instead we get Reeves, who couldn't be more wooden if he tried. At first I thought this was part of the character, the guy just being an empty man who has no motivation. But when he gets the idea to rob the bank the he was falsely imprisoned for robbing already, the character talks about how he finally has a dream in his life and something to look forward to. Hell, he even supposedly falls in love with Vera Farmiga's character, a semi-failed theater actress. Yet no matter what he is saying about how excited he is, Reeves couldn't seem more bored. I can't possibly understand how the director was making this film and saw the dailies and thought, "Okay, great job Keanu." It's impossible not see how bad and stale this performance is.
In stark contrast with Reeves' disastrous work though, is Vera Farmiga, who once again shows that she is one of the finest actresses to grace the screen. She is superb here, brimming with life from her very first scene where she hits Reeves with her car, gets out and immediately starts shouting at him. The character is unique and unfortunately she has to work opposite Reeves so the relationship is impossible to buy and has no chemistry, but Farmiga is on fire all the way through. She is completely full of life and charisma, whether she is cackling a laugh, breaking down in hysterics or snapping wildly at the theater director. A great performance in an unfortunately ruined film.
If there had been an actor with some charisma like Robert Downey Jr. or Colin Farrell sitting at the top of this film, it would have been a nice little slice of modern noir. Instead we get Reeves, who couldn't be more wooden if he tried. At first I thought this was part of the character, the guy just being an empty man who has no motivation. But when he gets the idea to rob the bank the he was falsely imprisoned for robbing already, the character talks about how he finally has a dream in his life and something to look forward to. Hell, he even supposedly falls in love with Vera Farmiga's character, a semi-failed theater actress. Yet no matter what he is saying about how excited he is, Reeves couldn't seem more bored. I can't possibly understand how the director was making this film and saw the dailies and thought, "Okay, great job Keanu." It's impossible not see how bad and stale this performance is.
In stark contrast with Reeves' disastrous work though, is Vera Farmiga, who once again shows that she is one of the finest actresses to grace the screen. She is superb here, brimming with life from her very first scene where she hits Reeves with her car, gets out and immediately starts shouting at him. The character is unique and unfortunately she has to work opposite Reeves so the relationship is impossible to buy and has no chemistry, but Farmiga is on fire all the way through. She is completely full of life and charisma, whether she is cackling a laugh, breaking down in hysterics or snapping wildly at the theater director. A great performance in an unfortunately ruined film.