The Criminal
The Criminal
| 01 October 1999 (USA)
The Criminal Trailers

Jasper Rawlins, a none-too-successful musician, finds himself chatting with a beautiful woman at his neighborhood bar. She goes home with him, direct and frank in answer to his nervousness. During the night, someone breaks into his flat and cuts her throat. He runs into the arms of the police, who dismiss his story, but release him while they search for the weapon. He investigates the crime, and over the next few days, meets a knowing pornographer, hit men, and other schemers. As dead bodies pile up wherever he goes, the police are soon looking for him with guns drawn. As he discovers secrets about a shadowy corporation, the police close in. Can he find someone to trust?

Reviews
AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
thethingis This film steps out of nowhere and throws its weight around to such an extent you'd think the budget was several $''000,000's greater. Confident direction and cinematography that is fantastically arresting combined a smart edit and well planned sound design, score and soundtrack - the sort of thing new directors often overlook. The performances show actors who really turned up every day ready to work and be worked - nobody coasts through this. Steve Mackintosh captures the boastful and irritatingly mouthy Jasper's descent into friendless paranoia really well with an expression that reads as if he can't for the life of him remember who he might have upset recently. Bernard Hill mows down all before him, riding roughshod over any suspicions or hunches his cop partner, played by Holly Aird may have and giving explosively short shrift to a forensic scientist played by Eddie Izzard.
AlanSquier I'd like to be kind as this was the director's first film. The trouble is there just isn't anything particularly good to say about it.Well, I'll take that back just a little. The beginning looks good, the musician picking up a gal, and then her getting murdered. But that's about it. From there on, it's a downhill slide of contrived complications, red herrings, swearing inspectors. The swearing in this film was something else again like the British are trying to prove that they can be as foul mouthed as Americans.I won't urge you to skip this. You might have reasons of your own to see it and if you do, all I can say is good luck.
objesguy I saw the Criminal on Palm Pictures VOD and i must say, while at first I was skeptical, I thought it was a fantastic movie that unwounded perfectly with many twists and turns along the way. Each scene gets better and better and the story only gets more confusing but in a way that works towards its advantage rather than the opposite. Once the movie ended, I was just stunned, in almost awe of the film I saw, for everything will come unraveling at the end and doing so in a fantastic way to boot.The acting I admit was a bit mediocre. The main character was decent, but his acting wasn't award worthy by any standard. The other cops do an okay job as well, with the male police officer being the best, but overall this won't win any awards for acting (note to director: the American girl was awful! She shouldn't be allowed to act ever again!). However, what really wins over is the plot. It does a good job revealing little hints throughout the movie e.g. Usual Suspects to provide the viewer with a grasp of what's going on. But viewer be warned, when you think you know it all, you'll be in for a real surprise. Believe me, i thought this movie was going to be a real cookie cutter noir film. It's much more than that, you just have to be patient with it.Is The Criminal the film of the decade? Probably not. But it's one hell of a ride. After thirty minutes in you'll be so immersed in the story you might forget all about the mediocre acting. With a great plot, intense action, and unbelievable suspense, The Criminal is one of those surprise films that should get recognized more in the states but probably won't. It's definitely more refreshing than the usual Michael Bay garbage we're used to here.
The Movie Goblin Okay, it may not have the budget of Enemy of the State, but Julian Simpson's first film was undeniably enjoyable nonetheless. The Criminal, withstanding a few minor glitches, is one of the most likeable British films I've seen in ages. I must admit that I am slightly biased as I love conspiracy films but this had all the right ingredients: the innocent everyman hero on the run, spies, femme fatales, plot twists etc. It occasionally felt as if some scenes could've been cut to quicken the pace, but as it is it's still very entertaining.Bernard Hill, the Captain from Titanic, was brilliant as the foul-mouthed bad-tempered policeman, and Steven Mackintosh was believable as the everyman hero, without resulting to cliche's. The rest of the cast was made up with faces from TV, but this didn't matter as they were all great.