A reunion of two Avengers: Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth lead 'Crime 101'

After The Death and Life of Bobby Z and Savages, another Don Winslow book has been adapted for the silver screen. For Crime 101 filmmaker Bart Layton has assembled Avengers co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth for a heist movie based on the author's novella Crime 101. Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, Corey Hawkins, Nick Nolte, and others complete the ensemble.

The 101 in the title refers to the juncture at which the high-speed freeways of Los Angeles converge. In the film, Hemsworth plays a jewel thief whose operations involves the least damage, and has specific, reasonable motivations for his actions.

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Hemsworth calls his character a “good guy in a situation doing bad things.”

“There was such a vulnerability to the character that we were trying to explore, in order to have an audience side with him," he adds. 

Layton calls Crime 101 a homage to heist classics such as The Thomas Crown Affair and The Getaway, aside from nods to Michael Mann’s Thief and Heat. "They were grown-up, intelligent, Saturday-night popcorn movies, and I definitely felt like, Wouldn’t it be great to bring something of that back?”

Layton's previous work include the documentary The Imposter and the docudrama American Animals. Both features revolved around con men and heists. Crime 101, he explains, is an expansion of Winslow's story. “It had a brilliant superstructure—a great beginning, middle, and end—and was an opportunity to build something that could speak to contemporary ideas about status anxiety and where that can lead you if that becomes one of your primary driving forces.”

Halle Berry plays Sharon Colvin, an insurance broker, while Ruffalo plays the detective assigned to bring down Hemsworth's character. Barry Keoghan plays a younger thief who isn't afraid of going ruthless when needed.

Last seen in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Hemsworth is reprising his Thor role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Ruffalo recently appeared in the HBO miniseries, Task, which concluded on Sunday.

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