Henry's Crime (2010) [Blu-ray]
Crime | Drama

If you've done the time, do the crime.

"With a terrific cast led by Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga and a splendid James Caan, Henry's Crime is a fun comedy with irresistible heist and heart." (Box Office Magazine) Reeves stars as Henry Torne, a wrongly accused man who winds up behind bars for a bank robbery he didn't commit. After befriending a charismatic lifer (Caan) in prison, Henry finds his purpose - having done the time, he decides he may as well do the crime. But his outlandish plan to rob the very same bank spins wildly out of control, as he finds himself performing in a stage play and falling in love with the production's seductive leading lady (Farmiga).

User Comment: Salvatore Ciccia (monasterace@hotmail.com) from London, England, 15 January 2011 • I went to see this movie yesterday and I have been positively surprised.

Keanu Reeves has given a great performance as Henry, the main character. The chemistry between Reeves and his counterparts (Vera Farmiga and James Caan) was really good and palpable.

The story was convincing, well written and from start to finish I actually believed in what was happening on the screen. Vera Farmiga, who plays the female lead character, is superb, credible and bitter enough to give convincing diva acting in the Checov's Cherry orchard play, which is crucial for the dynamic development of the movie itself.

I left the theatre thinking I wanted to see it again. Highly recommended.

Summary: tender and intelligent.

User Comment: *** This review may contain spoilers *** Amber Mazzarese from United States, 28 October 2010 • Henry's Crime is about an unfulfilled man who is used as a patsy in a bank heist and is wrongly imprisoned. He figures since he did the time, he might as well do the crime and he happens upon an unusually accommodating gateway to the bank vault. Things become complicated when he is hit by a car by a local play actress and falls in love with her.

I got the impression of classic Hollywood reminiscence within the romance aspect which portends to a beautiful and passionate resolution. The humor is quietly facetious and amenable but the ludicrous situations keep it from drying out. The main character Henry, played by Keanu Reeves leads an unfulfilled existence with nebulous ambitions and seemingly incurable apathy. The accidental imprisonment of his body leads inexorably to the liberation of his spirit. His mentor in prison, played by James Caan and his romance with a local play actress played by Vera Farmiga help guide him to his destined self-discovery. The movie's plot is also ingeniously juxtaposed with a play by Anton Chekhov, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. Eventually elements from the bank job, the play and the romance all begin to culminate into a fervent conclusion.

Keanu Reeves is brilliant in his restraint and in his dexterity especially in roles where he emerges from dispassionate stoicism and opens the emotional floodgates slowly with control and precision. His style, subtle, graceful yet bold and veracious lends itself perfectly to this character.

Summary: Romantic Comedy.

User Comment: AudioFileZ from United States, 9 June 2011 • Throw out your preconceptions of bank heist films and you have a good start on "Henry's Crime". This one is a left-field success. The story isn't at all remarkable, other than it was imagined and realized. The thing that makes this flick fly is the fantastic performances. No one is acting, they're just being really low-key engaging. This makes the parts greater than the whole. You've seen some great movies with James Caan, but did you expect another now? I've sensed Keanu Reeves could use his "stiffness" to great effect if something which depended on that came along and this is it. Add some rich flavor with Vera Farmiga and a slight undercurrent of comedy and director Malcolm Venille delivers just the right end result.

This bank heist film is more a comedic love story than anything…And, it works. A slacker, who is actually happy married and going nowhere, becomes a witless victim of circumstance. While in prison he is told he has to have a dream or his life is meaningless. Once more circumstance intervenes and he realizes what he has longed for is the meaning life has once its shared. The trouble is that he is a bit slow to come to that realization and the dream he imagined, that being a bank robbery without violence, really isn't his dream at all. The whole thing is juxtaposed by his becoming an actor, the suitor, in Chekhov's play "The Orchard Thief". Again, low-key brilliance.

This movie entertains first and foremost. It passes as if it is ten minutes due to the uniformly excellent performances of the cast. The direction gets out of the way and there isn't any need for any special effects or senseless action. It ends in the best possible way as to not try to tie up anything past the found love between two people. Simply put, entertaining low-key brilliant thus highly recommended.

Summary: A Very Different Romantic Take On The Bank Heist Genre.

[CSW] -3- Great cast, beautiful chemistry between all the major players, and great acting but a few plot holes stopped this from getting a -4-. It is both low-key and an extremely different story that is both a very convincing and also uplifting at the same time. It is not your usual bank-heist romantic-comedy. I think all audiences will enjoy watching it so give it a peep the first chance you get.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.

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