When it comes to gritty crime comedies, there's no such thing as
a bad Elmore Leonard adaptation. Not every film based on one of
his books is a "Get Shorty," but even lesser Leonard works have
fascinating characters, hard-boiled dialogue and criminal plans
that never quite go the way we, or the crooks, expect them.
"Life of Crime" is lesser-Leonard, an all-star kidnapping comedy
that manages to "Be Cool" even if the filmmaker never quite
finds the grim-faced grins that the best Elmore noirs boast.
Ordell (Mos Def) and Louis (John Hawkes) are two career crooks
who learn of a rich guy who is hiding his riches from the state,
the feds, his wife and everybody else. It's 1978, and Frank (Tim
Robbins) does what people did back then -- he plays golf, pushes
his son into tennis "at the club" and stashes his cash in the
Bahamas.  Ordell is the smart-alecky brains of the outfit. Louis
is game for any caper, including one that has them kidnapping
the rich guy's wife, Mickey.  But Mickey is played by Jennifer
Aniston,