Criminal Activities (2015)

Four young men make a risky investment together that puts them in trouble with the mob.

Director:

Jackie Earle Haley

Writer:

Robert Lowell

Stars:

Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Christopher Abbott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Pitt	...	Zach
Dan Stevens	...	Noah
Christopher Abbott	...	Warren
Rob Brown	...	Bryce
Edi Gathegi	...	Marques
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Gerry
John Travolta	...	Eddie
Morgan Wolk	...	Janie
Travis Aaron Wade	...	Agent Santos
Alan B. Jones	...	Agent Reichert
Chris Haley	...	Matthew
Christopher Jay Gresham	...	Little Mike
Bobby C. King	...	Agent Colin (as Bobby King)
Tyrone Jenkins	...	Demetrius
Rex Baker	...	Orpheus

Storyline

Pic is about four young guys who reunite at an ex-classmate's funeral. One mentions to the others inside information on a stock that is a guaranteed lock to make them instant millionaires. Unfortunately, the deal goes south along with their investment. Things go from bad to worse: one of them borrowed his share of the money from a mobster.

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Plot Keywords:

surveillance | murder | death threat | drug dealer | kidnapping | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Actividades Criminosas

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Capacity Pictures, May Day Movies, NeeNee Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jackie Earle Haley's directorial debut.

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Goofs

Eddie insists that all four guys shoot Marques with same gun. That would not implicate that they all murdered him. It wasn't four different guns being shot at the same time, it wasn't filmed or recorded, the first guy killed him and the rest shot a dead man.

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Connections

References Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

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Soundtracks

Play the Game
Written by Dan Greer
Performed by Vision
Courtesy of Simply Grand Music, Inc.

User Reviews

A lot of blather about nothing...and then I was surprised by the decent ending

Criminal Activities has a good cast for talent in the main roles with Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Christopher Abbott, Rob Brown, Edi Gathegi and John Travolta. The premise of the film is four old friends come up with a financial investment plan to make a small fortune but they need $200K in seed money which one of the four old friends arranges to get a loan for. When their financial investment plan quickly goes south their anonymous financial backer comes forward and demands his $200K back immediately plus another $200K in interest, or else their heads will be handed to them, literally. The loan arranger is connected to the mob underworld and he tells his four patsies that he will wipe the slate clean of the $400K loan if they agree to kidnap another hood and hold him for just 24 hours.

So the kidnapping plan is set in motion with the four amateurs and although it hits a few snags they eventually get the kidnapping completed and they keep the mob hostage tied up for their loan shark waiting to get the green light to let him go.

What follows is about 60 minutes of continuous blather by all cast members including a whole lot of four letter words that rhyme with the word "PUCK". Most sensible film goers would at some point get up and ask for a refund but since I purchased the Blu Ray I chose to bear with the directors master(less)piece and although I was becoming very irritated with the endless blather of totally useless dialogue by the six main characters which I assumed was necessary to fill an otherwise empty void to completing a 94 minute movie I hung in there and I was rewarded with a better than average film end.

I don't want to spoil any film goers surprise ending or personal experience with Criminal Activities but to summarize the film in three acts I would rate: Act One (1) with a "C" rating, Act Two (2) with a "D" rating, and the final act, Act Three (3) with a "B+" plus rating.

So if you can hang in there through a pretty boring middle half of the film with a lot of useless four letter word dialogue you may be pleasantly surprised with an above average decent film ending.