Bart Layton's "Crime 101" is a "Heat" pastiche that, even if it falls well shy of its Michael Mann blueprint, has some basic appeal going for it. Los Angeles crime movies are fun. Chris Hemsworth looks good in a suit. And we're all suckers for savvy criminals with good escape routes. Just as Robert De Niro's Neil McCauley strategized along L.A.'s asphalt arteries in "Heat," Mike Davis (Hemsworth) works exclusively up and down the 101 freeway. Near its exit ramps, he hits high-value targets with insider information. He works stealthily and alone, slipping out of surveillance camera sight in time to stash his window-tinted car in a garage. And like McCauley in "Heat," there's a detective on his trail. Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) has deduced a pattern in Mike's heists. Not many in the department, though, have much interest in his theories. His boss is pushing clearance rates, and his partner (Corey Hawkins) is beginning to realize Lou may be detrimental to his career ambitions. If any of this sounds like familiar territory, there's more. Mike also has a budding romance with a woman (a vibrant Monica Barbaro) who doesn't know his profession. Lurking on the outside is a dangerously reckless thief (a typically scuzzy Barry Keoghan) who doesn't have Davis' panache. Oh, and Mike tells his sole contact (Nick Nolte) he'll do just one more job and then he's gone for good. So, yes, "Crime 101" can feel a little like an introductory course to the heist movie. But those making out their syllabi would be better sticking with the OG standbys ("The Asphalt Jungle," "Rififi") and the more muscular modern classics ("Heat," "Inside Man," "Logan Lucky") than this stylish but hollow iteration. "Crime 101," adapted by Layton from Don Winslow's novella, isn't... Read More