Criminal

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Criminal
Starring Kevin Costner, Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by Ariel Vromen

The Story:
Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) works for the CIA in London, and has just hidden away a man known as The Dutchman (Michael Pitt), a computer genius who invented a wormhole computer program that allows the user to remotely detonate missiles and other forms of destructive weaponry.  Spanish anarchist Xavier Hembahl (Jordi Molla) wants that program, and Bill is hiding him away.

After being discovered, Bill is tortured and killed before he could reveal the whereabouts of the Dutchman.  CIA Supervisor Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) decides to bring in Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones) - a man who's spent eighteen years figuring out a way to transplant memories from one brain to another - to transfer Pope's memories to another person.  Franks chooses Jericho Stewart (Kevin Coster), a deranged killer who suffered a traumatic event during childhood that effectively turned off his frontal lobe of the brain, making him immune to pain and emotions.

With Pope's memories in Jericho's mind, he starts having visions of Pope's memories, including his wife Jill (Gal Gadot) and young daughter, and be begins to feel emotions he's never felt before. Meanwhile, he's on the search for the Dutchman before he can activate the wormhole drive, or Hembahl finds him first.

The Synopsis:
"Criminal" is one of those films where, if there wasn't an exemplary cast, would've easily been a VOD movie.  It's nothing spectacular, yet not the worst thing I've ever seen.  It falls in the middle, which isn't as good as it being something terrible - at least you remember something so awful.  This will easily be erased from my memory in the days to come, and I'll struggle to remember if I ever even saw this movie in the first place.

The movie is something that seems to have been done over and over again, but the only difference is that it involves a bit of sci-fi as they transplant someone's memories into another person.  Oddly enough, Ryan Reynolds is the person whose memories is transplanted, yet this was the opposite of his previous role in the movie "Self/Less," where another man's spirit is transferred to him.  Just an interesting aside there.  Back to the movie.  Um...I'm beginning to draw a blank already.  Something about Kevin Costner acting like Frankenstein's monster roaming London with an overly gruff voice, Gary Oldman being the worst CIA Supervisor ever as he keeps loosing track of a one-man wrecking crew and doesn't have the home of Pope's widow under constant surveillance because someone who has his memories would obviously come knocking.  Gal Gadot being horribly miscast as a damsel in distress after her wonderful Wonder Woman appearance.  Tommy Lee Jones working for a paycheck.  An overly stereotypical anarchist who wants to destroy the world for...reasons.  There was a beach in there somewhere too.

Final interesting fact: Nicolas Cage turned down the role that went to Kevin Costner.  I repeat: Nicolas Cage turned down the role that went to Kevin Costner.  No joke.  The man who acts in pretty much anything turned down a role.  Turned.  It.  Down.

So you know how "great" this film really is.

The Summary:
Nicolas.  Cage.  Turned.  Down.  The.  Lead.  Role.

The Score: B

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