Before we get into it, a couple exciting things. First, Andor season 2 is actually, finally imminent! April 22 feels so far away, but at least it’s a date. The 10-second clip and first-look images that have been released have me champing at the bit. And second, how on Earth did I miss that Diego Luna is gonna be playing Valentin in the movie musical adaptation of Kiss of the Spider-Woman?!? His first musical role since The Book of Life and his first live-action musical role ever??? I only found out that this project exists, and I’m already waiting for it with bated breath! (Also, Jennifer Lopez as Aurora sounds just delicious.)
Okay, onto your regularly scheduled review.
I never quite know what to expect from Diego Luna’s older movies. They can be all over the place in terms of quality—I’ve watched a number that are iffy at best, and adding insult to injury, some of those barely feature him at all. So I go into a lot of these films with an air of caution. On some level, Criminal is a bit basic and tries too hard in places, but I ultimately came away really liking it.
One day, out-for-himself conman Richard Gaddis takes notice of Rodrigo, a young man trying to pull some simple cons in a casino. He gets Rodrigo out of a tight spot and, because he’s currently without a partner, decides to take the kid for a test run. Richard offers Rodrigo the chance to learn some tricks from him, but their one day of training-wheels-level cons takes a turn when a gigantic opportunity falls into Richard’s lap.
This is an American remake of an Argentine film called Nine Queens. I haven’t seen that movie, so I don’t know how well this adaptation compares, but I thought it was a good time. It’s fun to watch Richard teach Rodrigo the tools of his trade, even if the script lays on the “world-weary crook mentor who trusts no one” routine pretty thick sometimes. And once the central scam of the film gets underway, we see a nice mix of expertise, complications, and pivots. Things do get a bit convoluted, but for the most part, it all seems to hold together.
John C. Reilly isn’t an actor I’d have thought of for a character like Richard, but it mostly works. While he’s not able to sell the hokiest of the dialogue, he gives off the right air for the sort of cons Richard pulls—he generally presents himself as a businessman, solid but not overly flashy, and Reilly plays the character with just enough slickness that you can never quite tell where he stands. Maggie Gyllenhaal is effective as his sister Valerie, who wants to keep her crook brother’s business far away from the fancy hotel where she works, and Peter Mullan does a nice job as William Hannigan, the wealthy tycoon that Richard sets his sights on (who, of course, just so happens to be staying at Valerie’s hotel.) Side note: I wouldn’t quite consider Mullan a Hey It’s That Guy!, because he’s never instantly recognizable to me. But pretty much every time I see him pop up in a film, I feel the need to look him up on IMDb, not just because I can tell I’ve seen him before, but because he’s so good. The film also features brief appearances from Enrico Colantoni and Michael Shannon.
Luna plays Rodrigo, who’s firmly the second lead of the film. This would’ve been just a few years after Y tu mamá también, when Hollywood had taken some interest in him, and even if the movie itself is a bit more middle-of-the-pack, this is a perfectly respectable role for him, and he does a nice job with it. The film revolves around the dynamic between Richard and Rodrigo. Richard is a career criminal who looks at con artistry as more than just a way to make money: it’s a philosophy, a way of life. By turns, Rodrigo explains that he’s just dipping his toe into this world because he needs money quick to help pay the loan sharks who are leaning on his father. Richard thinks Rodrigo gets too squeamish about certain aspects of the work, like not wanting to con an old lady, and he doesn’t appreciate the judgmental eye he sometimes gives. And Rodrigo is definitely wary of Richard—I can see the faintest glimmer of Cassian’s guarded watchfulness on Andor in this role—but at the same time, when he sees one of Richard’s cons comes together, he kind of lights up.
And for all that Richard frames himself as the jaded all-knowing teacher and Rodrigo as the wet-behind-the-ears novice who doesn’t have the stomach to be a “real” conman, Rodrigo shows real talent for the work. Richard tells him he “thinks too much” and says that his only real asset is that “you look like a nice guy,” but Rodrigo bails him out more than once, taking advantage of his keen sense of observation (hehe, Cassian vibes again!) to improvise on the spot.
Recommend?
In General – Maybe. It’s an entertaining conman flick with some good performances, and I think it sticks the landing pretty well.
Diego Luna – Yes. This is a good role for him, and he does a great job with it.
Warnings
Language, scenes of violence, drinking/smoking/drug references, sexual references (including sexual harassment,) and thematic elements.
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