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Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

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.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Elmore Leonard books rarely adapt to good movies. Something about the breezy, sleazy thrillers with undercurrents of dark comedy get lost in the big screen. For every Get Shorty there is a Cat Chaser or The Big Bounce.Set in late 1970s Detroit, Louis (John Hawkes) and Ordell (Mos Def) are small time crooks who kidnap an ageing trophy wife Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston) of a crooked property developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins.) When Frank gets a ransom demand he does not want to pay as he plans to run off with his younger mistress.Mickey reaches out for her survival instincts as at least as Louis and Ordell come across as nice bumblers. It is Monk the neo nazi pervert whose house that Mickey is holed up in who poses a threat.Despite a strong performance from Aniston this is a flat and inert movie which lacks the swagger that an Elmore Leonard adaptation should have.

Based on an original story by Elmore Leonard, with some characters who also appeared in Tarantino's 'Jackie Brown', plus a promising cast. More than enough to get me interested. To a point, 'Life of crime' didn't disappoint; the comedy aspect is played down a lot, and the 'vibe' is pretty much like a sincere crime film with plenty of intelligent twists and turns.But it doesn't work as well as it should have, somehow. The opening is promising, but it certainly isn't an acting-, and / or dialogue-palooza like 'Jackie Brown' was. It seems like the magic was missing. Most of it was rather bland, if not boring. The final twist reminded me of how this should have surprised me in every next scene. Not Robbins, not Aniston, not Bey, not Hawkes, not Boone Junior, nor Forte convinced me (most of the time), though much should be blamed on the writers and the director, in my opinion. Fisher was most convincing, by the way, even if I never got to see her "big'uns"...5 out of 10. Nice soundtrack, though, especially that solo bass guitar.

A loose prequel of sorts for the criminal players of Jackie Brown, based on Elmore Leonard's novel The Switch. It's not Jackie, no two ways about it, and it's unfair to compare the two... unfair, but inevitable since they're so spiritually related. The stakes are much lower this time, with a simple kidnapping plot the main point of action and few of the deliciously tangled interwoven story lines of the Tarantino flick. In Leonard's hands that still made for a wildly entertaining read, but on the screen it feels a bit on the shallow side. This translation is missing the charm and finesse of its source material, too, and a little of that spice can really go a long way. John Hawkes manages a really convincing, greasy De Niro impression as the soft-hearted enforcer Louis, while Mos Def's take on mastermind Ordell Robbie (originally played by Samuel L. Jackson) is less indebted to his predecessor. Jennifer Aniston is good as the repressed trophy wife / tennis mom / kidnappee, but the rest of the cast just seems like they're wearing costumes and playing games. They take themselves lightly, so it's tough for me to see the situation as all that serious. It's fine, superficial at worst, but there's little wonder why it slipped under the radar without a whimper when it hit the screens a couple of years ago.

This 2014 comedy slipped into and out of theaters this fall faster than a rumor. It's based on Elmore Leonard's novel, The Switch. Directed by Daniel Schechter, it features Jennifer Aniston (Mickey), Mos Def (Ordell), John Hawkes (Louis), and a strong supporting cast. (Several characters, including the two male leads were revisited in Quentin Tarantino's considerably more violent Jackie Brown, based on another Elmore Leonard novel, Rum Punch.) Much more The Ransom of Red Chief than Fargo, Life of Crime is about a kidnapping gone wrong. Louis and Ordell snatch trophy-wife Mickey only to find out her husband (Tim Robbins) is on the verge of divorcing her anyway. If they carry out their threats to kill her, they'll save him millions in settlement costs.Much of the humor comes from the bumbling characters who muddy the kidnappers' scheme. They've sought the help of a Nazi-loving nut case (Mark Boone Junior) who has a spare room where they can stash Mickey, and she is pursued by a hapless and creepily smitten tennis club dad (Will Forte). The only sharp knife in the drawer is the husband's new girlfriend (Isla Fisher), who's just too smart for her own good. Critics mostly objected to the film's relatively low energy, lack of real menace (played more for comedy than chills), and perhaps the false expectation of Jackie Brown/Tarantino-style violence.(Trivia note: The title may have been changed from Leonard's original because Aniston starred in a totally different comedy titled The Switch in 2010, and in an eruption of self-referential promotion, the DVD for Life of Crime included previews for both The Switch and Jackie Brown.)