Kevin Costner's Latest Film Is 'Criminal'

By Darlene Donloe

The movie, Criminal, starring Kevin Costner, is an action adventure that takes the audience on an unlawful and scandalous ride.

This is the story about a plot to retrieve the memory of a dead CIA operative in hopes that if they get the info in his head, the mission he was on can be completed.  The agent, Bill Pope, is played by Ryan Reynolds.  He has some secrets in his head that, unless retrieved, could lead to an international terrorist getting his hands on the information and causing global chaos. 

After Reynolds dies, the CIA decides to conduct a covert operation that would retrieve his memory and put it into the head of someone else.  That someone else happens to be a convicted, lifelong Criminal named Jerico Stewart, played by Kevin Costner.  Jerico is a violent, death-row inmate with no conscience and a host of social problems.

The trailer looked intriguing. The notion was interesting.  However, when it all shook out in the wash - the premise became quite murky.  None of it is plausible. Well, at least not right now. With the quickness of technology, it might be plausible, say, next week.

Once Jerico received Pope’s memories, he’s never quite the same. He, of course, has a headache most of the time.  He also begins to get deluged with memories that he doesn’t understand.  Eventually, he arrives at Pope’s home where he scares the heck out of his wife (Jill Gadot), who, after he reveals some very personal information about her and her husband, believes her husband’s memories are deposited in Jerico’s brain.

The acting is fine. The story is shoddy. The writing doesn’t work. The whole thing is confusing. It doesn’t make any sense. And, I’m not just talking about the implausibility of the memory transference.  Because of the choppy editing, the story never quite comes together.

Criminal, directed by Ariel Vromen and written by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, stars Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Eve and Gal Gadot.

Rated: R for strong violence and language throughout; Running time: 113 minutes.

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent), Criminal gets an N (needs work).