An offbeat comedy/drama elevated by another terrific Varmiga turn.
Henry’s Crime is a gently effervescent diversion but without its high profile leading man, Venville’s film would probably have been consigned straight to DVD.
The sheer daftness of the scheme is presumably all part of the film's kooky, offbeat charm, and sometimes it is pretty funny. But the stiff deadpan dudeness that is the Keanu method means he gathers dust while the supporting actors outclass him by miles.
It's no crime against cinema but hardly worth forking out to watch it on the big screen.
It may require a stretch of the imagination but Henry’s Crime is an affable heist movie that just about succeeds in spite of its many flaws.
Malcolm Venville directs a whimsical caper with a certain shambling charm.
There's a certain ingenuity in the way the plot of Chekhov's play becomes interwoven with the robbery, but for the most part the producers seem to be aiming at, and almost achieving, MFI – maximum feasible implausibility.
Laid-back and lugubrious, the early promise of Henry’s Crime wanes as its efforts to splice crime caper with backstage drama becomes increasingly laboured. But with the cast on their game, the film just about gets away with it.
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General release. Check local listings for show times.
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