Life of Crime (film)

Life of Crime is a 2013 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Daniel Schechter, based on Elmore Leonard's novel The Switch (1978), which includes characters later revisited in his novel Rum Punch (1992), which was adapted into the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown (1997). Life of Crime was screened on the closing night 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, at the 2014 Traverse City Film Festival and released in theaters on August 29, 2014.

Plot
In Detroit in 1978, stoic socialite Mickey Dawson becomes the target of an ill-planned kidnapping plot by a pair of fumbling ex-cons, Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara, looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. However, things become complicated for the duo when her wealthy husband, Frank, refuses to pay the ransom, as he is on the cusp of filing for divorce to make way for his mistress, Melanie Ralston. The two kidnappers have to figure out how to quickly turn the tables before their time runs out.

Cast

 * Jennifer Aniston as Margaret "Mickey" Dawson
 * Yasiin Bey as Ordell Robbie
 * Isla Fisher as Melanie Ralston
 * Will Forte as Marshall Taylor
 * Mark Boone Junior as Richard
 * Tim Robbins as Frank Dawson
 * John Hawkes as Louis Gara
 * Charlie Tahan as Bo Dawson
 * Seana Kofoed as Kay
 * Chyna Layne as Loretta
 * Clea Lewis as Tyra Taylor
 * Kevin Corrigan as Ray
 * Leonard Robinson as Officer Dixon
 * Jenna Nye as Shelly Taylor
 * Alex Ladove as Pamela Taylor
 * R. Marcus Taylor as Borsalino

Production
Dennis Quaid was originally cast as Frank Dawson, Mickey's husband.

Principal photography lasted 26 days. The major portion of the film was shot in Greenwich, Connecticut. Three time Academy Award nominee Tod A. Maitland did the sound mixing.

Reception
Life of Crime has received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 65% based on reviews from 74 critics, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's consensus reads: "It may not stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best Elmore Leonard adaptations, but Life of Crime has enough ambling charm—and a sharp enough cast—to get by." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score from 1 to 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film a 60 based on 28 critics.