Henry & Julie - Der Gangster und die Diva

Throw out your preconceptions of bank heist films and you have a good start on "Henry's Crime". This one is a left-field success. The story isn't at all remarkable, other than it was imagined and realized. The thing that makes this flick fly is the fantastic performances. No one is acting, they're just being really low-key engaging. This makes the parts greater than the whole. You've seen some great movies with James Caan, but did you expect another now? I've sensed Keanu Reeves could use his "stiffness" to great effect if something which depended on that came along and this is it. Add some rich flavor with Vera Farmiga and a slight undercurrent of comedy and director Malcolm Venille delivers just the right end result.

This bank heist film is more a comedic love story than anything…And, it works. A slacker, who is actually happy married and going nowhere, becomes a witless victim of circumstance. While in prison he is told he has to have a dream or his life is meaningless. Once more circumstance intervenes and he realizes what he has longed for is the meaning life has once its shared. The trouble is that he is a bit slow to come to that realization and the dream he imagined, that being a bank robbery without violence, really isn't his dream at all. The whole thing is juxtaposed by his becoming an actor, the suitor, in Chekhov's play "The Orchard Thief". Again, low-key brilliance.

This movie entertains first and foremost. It passes as if it is ten minutes due to the uniformly excellent performances of the cast. The direction gets out of the way and there isn't any need for any special effects or senseless action. It ends in the best possible way as to not try to tie up anything past the found love between two people. Simply put, entertaining low-key brilliant thus highly recommended.

Henry's Crime from 2010 was a nice surprise.

The film stars Keanu Reeves as Henry, a man who seems to go through life like a sleepwalker. When his friends ask him to fill in at a baseball game for their sick friend, Henry goes along.

When ALL of them go to the ATM at the bank and ask him to wait outside, Henry goes along. And then he goes along to prison after the bank is robbed, taking the fall for his friends.

While in prison, Henry meets Max (James Caan), a confidence man who loves prison and botches his parole hearings every time. Max's philosophy is, to find a purpose, you have to have a dream. Apparently his is to stay in prison.

Once released, Henry, who at this point has no life, decides that since he was accused of robbing the bank and didn't, he's going to rob it now. He discovers that a long-ago tunnel into the bank still exists from the theater next door. It means talking Max into getting parole. And it also means getting a role in "The Cherry Orchard."

A top cast that includes Vera Farmiga and Peter Stomare, who gives a hilarious turn as the director of the Chekov play, really liven up this film. It's an intriguing if improbable plot; they make it fun.

Reeves to me isn't much of an actor, but he pulls off Henry just fine. I'm not sure what his secret is, but he always seems to look the same age.

Farmiga as the actress anxious to get out of town is excellent, and Caan is terrific. Fisher Stevens is on hand as one of Henry's robbery "friends," who turns up again.

This is a little gem that apparently only played in 8 U. S. theaters.

Mix a romantic comedy with a heist movie and you have got "Henry's Crime": a lighthearted blend of a budding romance and a funny heist.

Keanu reeves fans (NOT the action fans) who like to see him romantically involved in a lighthearted romantic comedy will be served with some playful, witty flirting.

James Caan fans (the older generation) will love this movie for the witty heist story, in which James Caan (as always) plays the cool, calm and collected gentleman gangster. Caan is so COOL!

Funny, smart and lovely story about a bankheist DURING a theatre performance, which takes place exactly UNDERNEATH the very theatre. A smart and witty blend of acting and real crime. Suited for young and old, for family or for a romantic date. A crowd pleaser of the best kind.

I like Keanu Reeves, but he has turned out a disappointing uninspired performance in this film. It may not be his fault because the storytelling itself was quite dull. Events unfold tediously without really building up. I think it was because the music failed to do its job of creating the tension at the right time. Nice songs in the background, but that's no excuse for not having a good score.

I will admit the main reason I decided to watch this movie was because Keanu Reeves is in it. Not that I find him to be a great actor or anything like that but I enjoyed a lot of the stuff he was in. I though this actor never ages but in this you can tell the guy is getting old now. And although I never found Reeves to be a great actor he fit in very well for a role like this. "If you did the time you might as well have done the crime". Is one of the quote in this movie and that is what the character Henry(Keanu Reeves) goes by after getting out of prison for a crime that he was unintentionally a part of. But his motives are quite different than most criminals that tries to commit a crime. Yeah Keanu although entertaining to watch his presence in movies is bashed upon for not being a great actor like I said before. But in a role like this he fits right in and is actually believable. As a character who is a quite, reserved person and is also a person that lacks ambition but has a kind heart. I didn't find the chemistry between him and the actress Vera Farmiga all that great since the actress isn't likable at all. And just comes off loud and selfish in my opinion but who am I to judge when it comes to someone falling in love. I gotta say though the actress is really good and her acting was top notch and believable, like as if she is like that in real life. Overall I didn't find this movie all that entertaining and found the chemistry to be lacking, but it's passable barely.

6.5/10