The pedal is pressed hard to the metal for this very stylish high-stakes armed robbery thriller starring Chris Hemsworth
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s the British film-maker who previously gave us American Animals, a true-crime docudrama about the theft of rare books. That film’s title would also have applied perfectly well to this new one, an LA crime thriller adapted from a novella by Don Winslow. It is a little in the style of Michael Mann, though without the military hardware and the overhead shots of SUVs moving in swift convoy that would make it a full Mann homage.
Layton does without the distinctive indirect mannerisms and meta-commentaries of his earlier movies, but he applies his pedal to the metal for what is an enjoyable and very stylish high-stakes armed robbery film about a thief who is highly controlled, super-cool, super-groomed, and naturally looking for the “walkaway money” of the time-honoured one last job.
This is Mike (played by Chris Hemsworth), who with his sleek black performance cars and Glock handguns, commits jewel robberies with the laudably nonviolent precision of a ballet-dancing brain surgeon. He is controlled by a leathery old tough guy called Money (Nick Nolte), who once upon a time mentored Mike out of foster care and into crime. But Mike’s hits are all along California’s Route 101, a pattern spotted by LAPD’s single honest cop, detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), as dishevelled and smart as Columbo.
