Criminal, a sci-fi action thriller with seriously talented A-list star power, is the movie for people who like special effects — explosions, chases, gunplay, and suspense\u2014and who don\u2019t care if characters are underdeveloped or if a plot makes any sense at all. One could say the film\u2019s a no-brainer, but that would go counter to the plot.<\/p>\n
The \u201cbad guy\u201d death row inmate from the film\u2019s title is Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner, with a very unattractive haircut), and the \u201cgood guy\u201d CIA agent is Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds). When Pope is killed in the line of duty, the CIA chief (Gary Oldman) makes a deal with Stewart to release him if he\u2019ll allow Pope\u2019s memories to be implanted into his brain by an innovative neurosurgeon (Tommy Lee Jones) and then if he\u2019ll carry on with Pope\u2019s mission to stop a hacker from launching missiles.<\/p>\n
Stewart, who suffered a childhood injury that left him without feelings for others, doesn\u2019t have much to lose. At first the information transfer appears unsuccessful, and the doctor decides the best course of action would be to kill Stewart. But the criminal escapes, tasting and enjoying freedom, careening through London, and then becoming aware of Pope\u2019s memories. Along with hunting down the \u201cDutchman\u201d hacker behind the missile threats, to keep the Dutchman from selling the secrets to a Spanish anarchist or the \u201cRussians,\u201d Stewart has glimpses of the satisfying family life and a hidden bag of money Pope left behind.<\/p>\n
Director Ariel Vromen told FlickeringMyth.com that Reynolds wanted the experience of acting with Costner, saying, \u201cI\u2019m such a fan of Costner, and Field of Dreams is my favorite movie of all time, and I will do anything to be in a Costner movie!\u201d Jones and Oldman both starred in JFK with Costner.<\/p>\n
One of Costner\u2019s acting strengths is reacting to such characters as Pope’s wife, Jill (Gal Gadot), and daughter, Emma (Lara DeCaro). As the criminal develops \u201cfeelings\u201d for Pope\u2019s family, exhibiting the sensibilities of their loved one but in a different physical package, the audience believes he might have reformed, just a little.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 Criminal,<\/em> a Summit Entertainment release, is rated R for strong violence and language throughout and runs 113 minutes. Although some may find the film farfetched to the point of stupidity, Crimina<\/em>l, which is in theaters now, is worth a look for Costner\u2019s acting turn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Mary J. Schirmer Criminal, a sci-fi action thriller with seriously talented A-list star power, is the movie for people who like special effects — explosions, chases, gunplay, and suspense\u2014and who don\u2019t care if characters are underdeveloped or if a plot makes any sense at all. One could say the film\u2019s a no-brainer, but that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columnists","category-movie-reviews","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n