Henry's Crime (2011)

Henry´s Crime is a cleverly written, pleasantly old fashioned film that flirts with many genres and pulls it off with great acting. There are essentially two plots co-existing here, one about a bank heist and the other about making theatre and romance. If you really must classify this piece of work file it under black comedy, that´s pretty close. It is as if the screenwriters started to think about how to improve Chekhov´s classic play the Cherry Orchard by adding a heist subplot which eventually took the whole thing over. It is complicated but the viewer is fed with very good lines of dialogue all along the twisting and turning ride. The screenplay smells of paper with way too many unlikely encounters and incidences to be plausible, but this is a film about pulling it off, and the actors do just that. Keanu Reeves plays the wooden faced but kind hearted lead character of very few words, so he has to act with body language. Vera Farmiga has an even harder role as a cold-hearted and emotionally troubled actress harassed by the great Peter Stormare as the aggressive theatre director. James Caan is supreme as the old time confidence man pulling the strings. Bill Duke is a great sidekick as the security guard. And yes, to stress the point, they all pull it off. This is a non-violent, dialogue driven film and I can see why it would not reach the younger audience. As for people with more experience of life the film can and probably should be watched twice. I´m pretty sure I missed a lot of goodies the first time around and will watch it again as opportunity arises.

Henry has a boring job in the Buffalo area as a toll collector. We never see exactly what road he is on, but it appears there is lots more traffic in the background than there is on his road.One morning he comes home and gets to spend some time with wife Debbie, a nurse. Their marriage seems okay. Then Henry's friends, including Eddie, come over and say they need him to play in an important softball game. But they need to make a stop at the Buffalo Savings Bank first. All four men are wearing uniforms, but Henry has to stay in the van. The other three put on masks and rob the bank. Only Henry is caught, and since he won't rat on his friends, he gets sent up the river.Fortunately, Henry's cellmate is a really nice man named Max. Max is a lifer who likes prison and has no desire to get out. Henry doesn't seem to despise prison, but he would like to leave. And his time is over pretty quickly. His wife has left him, and he needs to figure out what to do with his life. Henry finds out about a tunnel built between the bank and what is now Orpheum Theater, used for a speakeasy during Prohibition. He did the time, so why not rob the bank anyway? In the process of investigating Henry meets Julie, an actress best known for lottery commercials who is acting in a Chekhov play at the theater, but wants to be a real actress. As a cover, Henry decides to join the play, and he's actually pretty good. And he and Julie seem to like each other. He later gets more help when Max gets out on parole and continues his previous life as a "confidence man" (he hates the term "con man"). And the cop who caught Henry wants to help too, because he's not appreciated.One possible problem: Eddie and his friends want in on the action.Can Henry get away with it? This is the type of movie where we want him to succeed, like in "Ocean's Eleven".In a better movie, James Caan would have been nominated for an Oscar for his excellent portrayal of Max. He is the standout performer here.Vera Farmiga is quite good as Julie, who is better than this sorry role. And yet she gives it her all. What she does on stage and in rehearsals is worthy of being seen on the Tonys.Keanu Reeves is okay. Not bad. Not great. He's better in the Chekhov play.Fisher Stevens does a very good job. I'm used to seeing him as a basically nice guy who is sleazy, but here is is just bad. Not bad in that sense. He's very good at being bad.There's no clear ending. I will say that much. So I'm not quite sure what happens. But the climactic scene is pretty amazing.It's really worth seeing.

I understand why some people did not like this very good film - it is slower, and it is not The Matrix, or Konstantin. This is a very good work, and yes, Keanu's character is a bit slow, silent and detached - but here is what he is like. His role is balanced perfectly by fiery and very funny James Caan who did a very, very excellent job. His part of a con-man is a great plus, and his part is almost The best in here. Vera Farmiga is another great plus of the movie, her part of a Russian theater actress is very cool, too. She does a perfect Diva here, and does it extremely convincing way. Well, yes, the movie is not a fast and furious action one, but this was not the intent. The very theater style of the film is obvious, and the nice link to the Chekhov's play is a warm heart-thawing welcome for all Russian viewers. Keanu is a very good Lopakhin and Vera is a very sweet Ranevskaya. And then, yeah, here is excellent Peter Stormare as a choleric and very short-tempered theater director with all his idiosyncrasies and craze. Casting was done very well, and this stellar ensemble of actors is a mighty element for the great movie.

This movie is better than good.Multi layered and with a great score , both in cast, city outlook and soundtrack.The acting is far good; James Caan's con for life is a doppfelgänger for Bukowski. Not much trust in the human race per se. They are all up to and beyond par. The bleak ambiance in prison 1 and 2 is rock solid. And using Tjekov as part of the story gives both slapstick and love. Enjoy See the movie10 lines, OK? I liked the movie. Want to see Jamea Caan play Bukowski, he 's got the moves. Barbet S. If you read this, call him. Your are the guy to make a dream come true