To me, this movie is perfection.

Boring

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Brad Mirman's "Crime Spree" is the perfect example of movies where you could easily tell who saw it and who didn't: either it inspires a "huh?" or a big and sincere smile in the face. The film that features a gang of criminal screw-ups 100% made-in-France in Chicago, the American is so hilarious, with the same level of gentleness than other good-hearted comedies such as "My Cousin Vinny" or "Wayne's World" that the whole Tarantino or Guy Ritchie's rip-off allegations are absolutely meaningless.To understand the simple but efficient greatness of "Crime Spree", imagine the opening scene, set in the dark. Two thieves are whispering, probably because the house owner is there, Gerard Depardieu as Daniel and Stephane Freiss as Julien, that came to steal a painting, one of them brought the flashlight but forgot about the batteries. Why? Because he brought everything that was on the list: gloves, pen, knives except the batteries because they were not on the list. The absurdity of his argument confined to comical genius … wait, now, as if it was not funny enough, there's the third one, Raymond as the fat well-mannered getaway driver, who joins them because … he felt alone in the car. In one minute, we have an idea of the guys we're dealing with.Indeed, what is so great about "Crime Spree" is that the movie never cheats the viewer by delivering something else than laughs, even the most unexpected and random gags are inserted, not to mention some priceless one-liners. When Daniel's boss, Bastaldi, remarkably played by Ricahrd Bohringer, wants to point out his crew's incapacity, he throws a plate at his hands to indirectly signify that they were empty. Anyway, he has a mission for them, in the States. "You speak English?", asks Bastaldi in French, to which Depardieu immediately replies "Yes" as if it was the best guarantee that he does. Just imagine the scene in reverse: "You speak French?" "Oui". Each gag catches you totally off-guard.This attention to little gags redeem the overall B-movie feel, that makes "Crime Spree" inferior to "Pulp Fiction" or "Lock, Stock" in a larger scope, but it's one thing to say that and another to accuse the film of being a cheap imitation when it clearly has no other ambition to be a funny story playing on cultural gaps …if one thing, let's not forget that the screenplay was written in 1996, and maybe if it was made in a time where France was more popular, remember in 2003, French fries were renamed "Freedom Fries", just to give you a certain idea of the context. But seriously, I'd trade any genuine laughs from predictable gags unoriginal than a timid smile from a film that tries too much on the sophistication."Crime Spree" is a raw pleasure with a level of naivety that almost confines to tenderness What makes the film less 'cinematically' great is. At one moment, two of the crew join the team, Renaud as the laconic Zero (the name is so neutral that it's hilarious) and Johnny Halliday as Marcel. At one moment, they fight to decide which radio station they'll listen to, they each want to listen to their own song. The joke is funny because it's so damn predictable when you have two of the most popular singers from France. The film doesn't forget to mock French' culinary habits with a beautiful scene in a restaurant conclude by Zero's comment: "no smoking, no drinking, what kind of country is that?" At least, Brad Mirman spared us the cliché with frogs' legs.There is no need to summarize the plot which is a typical gimmick of the crime genre with the intricate plots that gets everyone gets mixed up, from a corrupt cop, a gang of Mexican hoodlums, black guns dealers and to an obligatory Mafia leader. Predictable, maybe. But it works. And on that department, "Crime Spree" uses two of the most endearing character actors who starred in the most acclaimed gangster films : Abe Vigoda as the venerable Giancarlo aka Mr. G. and his plotting capo Frankie Zemetti, played by Harvey Keitel in a great comedic performance as the no non-sense gangster who takes his business so seriously that he's inevitably hilarious.As the fitting antagonist, Zemetti has a deal of good lines, to a negotiator who explains that the proceeds will be supernumerary, the stares he gives when he hears the word is priceless and naturally he asks what it means. The funny thing is not that the guy used the word because he's taking courses to enhance his vocabulary, but that Zemetti uses it the next scene with Mr. G, provoking the same "what the …?" reaction. Still, it's nothing compared to his explicit "What the F does that mean?" after Zemetti explained that he broke his own brother's arm because "honor without respect is like a horseless carriage". I can go on and on, if there was a Top 10 of Keitel's greatest roles, I'd put this one. His wisecracking and interactions with his men are absolutely hilarious : "You mean, French guys from France?".The plot escalates very fluidly, featuring common archetypes of the gangster genre: shootouts, car chases, and even some dramatic moments handled efficiently because we do care for these characters. There's something absolutely endearing in characters that mustn't goof and yet can't help it, that's the quality that makes them irresistibly funny, with a honorable mention to Said Taghmaoui as Sami, the Arab intermediary who's the only one to believe in his toughness and macho attitude. And take it from someone who hate outtakes in ending credits, as they kill the very purpose of a film, this time, it works because the film is so humble it doesn't even ask us to take it seriously…... yet we do because it's truly one of the funniest films of the last decade ... and deserves to become a cult comedic classic.

I picked this up in Poundland expecting very little except that the word 'crime' in the title got my attention, and I'll watch any type of heist film. It was past one in the morning when I saw it, and I considered going to bed instead, then, after watching the first few scenes of the 95m movie (it said 84m on the box) I thought I'd watch half of it today and the other half tomorrow but it kept me watching till the end, occasionally laughing out loud. Comedy caper films nearly always fail. The Italian Job is over-rated. Don't even get me started on public-school- educated Guy Ritchie's films. But any fan of Donald Westlake's Dortmunder books, in which a hapless crime planner is saddled with a team of non-starters and has to extricate himself from increasing complications, will see that this is the best Dortmunder movie the late Westlake never wrote. The only successful Dortmunder adaptation was How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons (also known as The Hot Rock). All the others failed to a lesser or greater extent. Despite the predominantly French tone, and the minimal characterisation of Depardieu's character (Dortmunder is usually silent, unless complaining, anyway) this is what a Dortmunder adaptation should be, even though it isn't. Not a great movie, by any means, with too many respectful nods to Tarantino (surely the greater influence here, and not Ritchie?) but a very watchable one that keeps you wanting to know what happens next. Wayne Newton's (yes, that's a man singing) 'Danke Schoen' is used to great effect.

Maybe it seems that this movie is a French copy - Or better to say, a French version, as it's something different - of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". it's a nice, smooth movie that you can enjoy both comedy side and action side of it. Plus some romantic sequences with a French taste.Good acts, good music, good story and last but not the least a really good direction has made this movie something. I saw it yesterday night for the third time after 4 years and enjoyed it as much as the first time.It is a "Must see" movie. It has some points which are quiet original and you cannot find them in any other movie.I strongly recommend it.

A crew of fairly inept French burglars are given one last chance to impress their boss by pulling off a jewel robbery in Chicago. To help (or hinder) them, they are given the support of a couple of less savoury hoods and an incompetent Algerian. What follows is almost as predictable as the above might indicate - but not, I'm glad to say, without some quality laughs.Crime Spree is NOT an excellent film. The script is flawed (the stolen car from the latin gang is a woeful subplot); the acting is too laid back at times and, as has been said below (on Jan 6th 2004), the director often can't decide on the cinematic style he prefers. But let's be balanced here - the director of this film is only as inconsistent as his above detractor. I mean - anyone who thinks the saving of the girl in the hallway is stolen from The Untouchables is being majorly tenuous and then to neglect to mention that De Palma actually (and totally) stole his particular scene from a much earlier movie is not really playing the game. By all means love or hate films - but don't force flawed arguments on those who disagree with you. Please.The muffled phone sex scene is funny; the ariel shot of Marcel blasting his way through the hotel is excellent; the death scene of one of the gang members is poignant and the styles and verities that work serve the film well. It's not excellent cinema but it is amiable and of a welcome, off-beat quality that deserves appreciation and more respect than some might wish it. Then again - that's just my opinion. Each to their own.