Summary
The 2010s were a great decade for crime movies, with groundbreaking heist thrillers, detective dramas and much more. Many of the genre’s finest directors returned with movies to build on their legacy, and they continued to push the boundaries of modern crime films. David Fincher, Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh all created some of their most popular crime movies in the 2010s.
The crime genre is one of the oldest staples of Hollywood, but film noir has fallen out of fashion, and the genre has undergone plenty of changes. The 2010s were categorized by crime movies which probed at pressing social trends, such as the role of sensationalist media outlets. Despite some contemporary social issues, these movies still stick to the timeless appeal of the genre.
10 Movies That Were Inspired By Real Crimes
In Hollywood, there are many successful movies that have been inspired by real criminal events that took place throughout history.
Edgar Wright showed with his “Cornetto trilogy” that he has a deep appreciation for genre traditions.Baby Driveris his take on the heist genre, and it delivers all the requisite thrills. Above all,Baby Driver’s delightful soundtrackand punchy action sequences make it a gloriously entertaining story. Wright invites his audience to have a good time, and his charms are hard to resist.
Above all,Baby Driver’s delightful soundtrack and punchy action sequences make it a gloriously entertaining story.
Baby Driverhas plenty of great jokes, such as the heist carried out with Austin Powers masks, but it’s just as tense as a great crime drama should be. The gags disappear in the third act as the fun and games screech to a halt. What’s left is a brutal succession of duels between Baby and his pursuers, each of whom reminds him that the lighthearted fun is over. Baby is a good man trapped in an ugly business, and this makes him easy to root for.
Nightcrawlerbegins with the protagonist, Leo Bloom, attacking a security guard after he is caught stealing scrap metal from a railyard. This sets the tone for his character. Leo is a duplicitous grifter who has no issue with resorting to violence if it gets him to where he wants to be. Eventually, his dark immorality reaches its logical conclusion.Nightcrawlertells the story of a man who wants to work to make a living, but it takes all human decency out of the equation.
The audience may reject Leo’s callous opportunism, but he is merely feeding their own desire.
Nightcrawleris incredibly even-handed for a directorial debut.It’s tense and exciting, with an unsettling message at its heart. As Leo fixates on filming crime scenes and the aftermath of traffic accidents,Nightcrawlerquestions the human need to watch and consume, especially with such dark materials. The audience may reject Leo’s callous opportunism, but he is merely feeding their own desire.
Martin McDonagh’s pitch-black comedyThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouristars Frances McDormand in fine form as a woman who rents three roadside billboards to castigate the local police for failing to solve the rape and murder of her daughter. McDormand is backed by Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell.All three actors received Academy Award nominations for their work.
Despite some extremely dark moments, the ending ofThree Billboardssuggests that radical change is possible if people are brave enough to want it.
Martin McDonagh’s best movieto date works so well because each character is so perfectly drawn, and they each represent conflicting views on issues in policing. Mildred is the rightly indignant voice of the victim, Chief Willoughby is a hard-hearted pragmatist with years of experience, and Dixon is a morally corrupt cop who only wants to preserve the status quo that pays his salary and gives him a position of power. Despite some extremely dark moments, the ending ofThree Billboardssuggests that radical change is possible if people are brave enough to want it.
Prisonersfollows the investigation into two missing children, but the main conflict arises from the dispute between the lead detective on the case and the father of one of the girls. As the detective is duty-bound to follow the letter of the law, the father takes the investigation into his own hands.Prisonersquestions the morality of the impulse to do anything to protect one’s family, especially in cases where clear judgment can be clouded by intense emotion.
Like all great crime movies,Prisonersposes more questions than it answers about the nature of humanity, and the rigid borders of the criminal justice system.
Prisonershas elements of a ticking-clock mystery and a revenge thriller, but it’s more complex than either of these simplistic categories. The story is about who is responsible, yes, but it’s also about the ways in which violent crime inspires equally violent retribution. Like all great crime movies,Prisonersposes more questions than it answers about the nature of humanity, and the rigid borders of the criminal justice system.
Steven Soderbergh established himself as the king of the heist genre with hisOcean’strilogy, andLogan Luckyfurther bolstered his credentials. Far from the glitzy casinos of Las Vegas or the luxury of the French Riviera,Logan Luckytakes place in an impoverished area of West Virginia. This gives it a more socially conscious bent than the pure romantic fantasy of theOcean’smovies.
Logan Luckycould have become a franchise, especially with Daniel Craig’s lovable American outlaw Joe Bang.
Logan Luckycould have become a franchise, especially with Daniel Craig’s lovable American outlaw Joe Bang. Adam Driver and Channing Tatum also join in with some fantastic comedic moments, butLogan Luckyhas a dramatic twist in the tale. Most heist movies end right after the heroes pull off the big score.Logan Luckydraws out its conclusion to show the beginnings of the investigation, as the Logan family’s bad luck threatens to undo them once more.
BlacKkKlansmanis based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Despite its nostalgic period details, the story has a lot to say about the current state of racial hatred in America, and Spike Lee closes out the film with footage from the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville to illustrate this point. There are a disturbing number of similarities between the film’s portrayal of David Duke and contemporary political rhetoric in some circles.
BlacKkKlansmanuses its comedy for a purpose, portraying the heroes as sympathetic and friendly, while the Klan are ignorant in more ways than one.
Spike Lee and Denzel Washingtonhave worked together on multiple occasions, butBlacKkKlansmanstars John David Washington, Denzel’s son. He and Adam Driver make a great team as two perpetrators of a ludicrous hoax that gets them access to the secretive inner circle of the Klan.BlacKkKlansmanuses its comedy for a purpose, portraying the heroes as sympathetic and friendly, while the Klan are ignorant in more ways than one.
Adam Sandler is virtually unrecognizable inUncut Gems.The polarizing actor is best known for his crass comedies, butUncut Gemsis as far removed fromBilly Madisonas possible. It’s a breathless, dizzying thriller that drags the audience along to helplessly watch a desperate gambling addict dig his own grave. Thanks to Sandler’s performance and the chaos provided by the Safdie brothers,Uncut Gemsis a masterpiece of anxiety-inducing cinema.
With its jolting camera movements and its naturalistic dialogue,Uncut Gemsoften feels like a sickening amusement park ride.
Adam Sandler may be the biggest surprise in thecast ofUncut Gems,butKevin Garnett also delivers a great performanceas a warped version of himself. His character helps to ground the story ofUncut Gemsin the real world, not that it needs any more help to feel realistic. With its jolting camera movements and its naturalistic dialogue,Uncut Gemsoften feels like a sickening amusement park ride.
Based on Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel,Gone Girlbites into social media’s obsession with true crime, and the tendency of the media to scrutinize everyone involved in a case. In a broader sense,Gone Girlis about how people hunger for good stories, often to the detriment of basic human decency. David Fincher recaptures the form that makes some of his other crime classics so absorbing.
Gone Girlis everything that a crime drama should be: tense, surprising and thought-provoking.
Fincher is the perfect director for Flynn’s novel. His exacting attention to detail puts the audience in the same shoes as the obsessive media scrum depicted in the movie. He sets the stage for his characters perfectly, which allows forGone Girl’s unforgettable endingto hit with a staggering impact.Gone Girlis everything that a crime drama should be: tense, surprising and thought-provoking.
Martin Scorsese has long been the master of crime movies, and his biggest hits have helped shape the industry ever sinceTaxi Driver.The Wolf of Wall Streetis about white-collar crime, but Scorsese draws several comparisons between Jordan Belfort’s financial fraud and the run-of-the-mill thuggery that his gangster movies focus on. Scorsese makes thetrue story behindThe Wolf of Wall Streetseem just as outrageous and brazen.
It’s a joy to see Leonardo DiCaprio on top of his game, and his performance digs deep into the psyche of Belfort without ever straying into melodrama.
The Wolf of Wall Streetis an endlessly entertaining movie, with shocking humor and bursts of action. It’s a joy to see Leonardo DiCaprio on top of his game, and his performance digs deep into the psyche of Belfort without ever straying into melodrama. There are times when the excess ofThe Wolf of Wall Streetseems aspirational, but it’s clear from the context that the characters who are having so much fun are no more than selfish criminals.
Drivestars Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt driver moonlighting as a getaway driver. Gosling delivers one of his subtlest performances, and one of his best. The Driver is pressured from all sides by the creeping consequences of his criminal lifestyle. As danger lurks in Nicolas Winding Refn’s dimly lit vision of Los Angeles, he finds that his only way out is to fall deeper down the rabbit hole.
One ofDrive’s most breathtaking moments is a slow-speed chase with nothing but the voices on a police scanner to break the silence.
Withsuperb supporting performances from Albert Brooks and Carey Mulligan,Drivehas the perfect amount of tenderness to contrast its gritty violence. The emotional stakes are so clearly defined that Refn is able to peel back the theatrics for some of the action scenes. One ofDrive’s most breathtaking moments is a slow-speed chase with nothing but the voices on a police scanner to break the silence.Drivetaps into the primal associations of a police chase, where the prey can either run or hide to avoid being eaten.
