Life of Crime (2014)

** 1/2 out of ****

I decided last night to have a look at the fairly unheralded "Life of Crime" for several reasons.  First, it's an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel, so odds are the storyline would be decent, and maybe have a laugh or two.  Second, the cast was filled with actors I have historically liked (Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, Isla Fisher and John Hawkes).

Best thing I can say about it would be that it wasn't a total waste of time.  The storyline is on the ridiculous side, but the cast is likeable enough (especially Aniston and Hawkes) to make it a good time waster.  Trapped in a loveless marriage to an epic egomaniac (Robbins), Mickey Dawson (Aniston) is doing the social rich wife act when she is kidnapped by a couple of small timers (Hawkes and Yaslin Bey).  The kidnappers know that her husband is a tax cheat and fraud artist, and ransom her for $1,000,000.  Unbeknownst to them, he has just filed for divorce and comes to feel he'd be better off if he didn't pay the ransom and let her be killed.

Some of the secondary characters, such as a neo-Nazi conspirator of the kidnappers (Mark Boone Jr.) and the hapless country club idiot who wishes to have an affair with Mickey (Will Forte) add a little comic relief.  Isla Fisher, as Robbins' mistress is effective as the heartless bitch who reinforces the plan to let the kidnappers kill Mickey, so it's pretty easy to pin the watchability of the film on the cast.

Better than most of the lower budget studio films these days, but a bit of a disappointment as an Elmore Leonard adaptation, you won't be unhappy with the time you spent watching it, but ultimately it's not particularly memorable.