‘Criminal’ Featuring Gary Oldman in Theaters Now

Gary Oldman (Harry Potter‘s Sirius Black) features in the new action film, Criminal, showing in theaters now.

Criminal is a spy thriller about a mission gone wrong.  Oldman plays a CIA bureau chief named Quaker Wells.  When one of his agents dies trying to reach a young hacker (Michael Pitt), Wells finds a neurosurgeon (Tommy Lee Jones) who is experimenting with memory transfer to input the memories from his agent into the mind of a death-row inmate named Jericho (Kevin Costner).  Jericho must then find where the hacker is hidden before the bad guys do.

Criminal opened April 15, and reviews have been mixed. Of Oldman’s performance, The Daily Mail Online says that he “looks like he’s having fun as the CIA chief trying to prevent mass destruction.”  But The Hollywood Reporter says that “from such a good actor, this performance seems entirely misdirected and inauthentic for a figure requiring maximum shrewdness and smarts.”

The consensus is that while the action scenes can be exciting, the stellar cast, with Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot filling out the lead roles, are not used to their potential.  Reviewers agreed that the main actors (Oldman, Costner, and Jones) were obviously having a great time on the film, probably enjoying their reunion after working together on JFK (1991).

If Gary Oldman wants to make a movie just to get paid to hang out with his friends, then we won’t fault him for it.

To read the full reviews, see the Mail Online and The Hollywood Reporter.