FilmSnobReviews

Title: Emily the Criminal
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: John Patton Ford
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Gina Gershon
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

What It Is: Emily (Plaza) is sort of down on her luck.When she hooks up with Youcef (Rossi) the two of them set out to craft and perform a credit card scheme. As is normally the case Emily gets dragged into the underworld of Los Angeles. Which subsequently leads to deadly situations that she’s not ready for. Will she be able to escape this or will the city swallow her whole as it has so many other people.

What We Think: So. Let’s start with our history with Aubrey Plaza films at Sundance. A few years ago we saw Black Bear. We loved it as you will see by clicking the link. Likewise, they put us in the trailer. So we’ve had a nice history. having said all this the brass tacks aren’t as cut and dry. This is a film that struggles throughout its relatively short run time. It drags and comes off more like an extra long pilot for a mediocre CBS crime show. As a feature debut this is a disappointment. It’s something that doesn’t show the filmmakers skills in a way that makes me or any audience want to see what they’re to do next. Theo Rossi is…well he’s in this. That’s really what I will say there. He’s in this and he’s doing stuff. Aubrey Plaza didn’t need to be in this. Emily isn’t an interesting character. Normally Plaza will play interesting characters, but the last two times I’ve seen her the roles have lacked that certain something. Couple this film in with Best Sellers as things that could’ve gone a little better.

Our Grade: C-, Yup. Not a terrible film by any stretch just not good enough. Sometimes those are the ones that disappoint the most. There’s a certan level of mediocre that I don’t expect from Sundance. Sadly this film is there. Nonetheless the “heist-movie” doesn’t have near enough entries into it. This one existing sadly makes it one of the better ones in recent time. If this genre or the description interest you check it out. If not I’d totally understand it.