Director Bart Layton's 'Crime 101' uses diverse Los Angeles spots to portray the city's social contrasts. The film, starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry, adapts Don Winslow's novella 'Savages' into a heist thriller that explores class and wealth issues. Shooting occurred from Echo Park to the Sixth Street Bridge, emphasizing the city's beauty and underbelly.
Bart Layton's 'Crime 101' goes beyond a standard heist thriller by integrating Los Angeles as a central character. Chris Hemsworth portrays Davis, a jewel thief conducting targeted robberies along the 101 freeway without harming anyone. Mark Ruffalo plays LAPD detective Lou Lubesnick, who detects the pattern, while Halle Berry is Sharon, an insurance broker facing barriers in a male-dominated field and becoming entangled with both men.
Layton aimed to delve into themes of class, wealth inequality and status anxiety, noting in an interview with Variety that Los Angeles creates particular pressures around status and wealth. He sought underrepresented parts of the city to reflect social strata, highlighting a topographical divide where the wealthy reside in hills or on the coast, and others live under freeways. The film traces a diamond's path from immigrant-run jewelry stores in Downtown L.A. to high-end jewelers in Calabasas, where its value multiplies by tens of times.
Halle Berry described the movie as a love letter to the city, showcasing its beauty alongside its underbelly, devastation, migrant workers and builders. Chris Hemsworth emphasized the authenticity from contrasting glitz with homelessness, adding that such portrayals are rare in recent films. Mark Ruffalo, drawing from his own experiences living in tough and affluent L.A. areas, praised the shooting across Echo Park, Venice and Santa Monica for capturing each neighborhood's unique feel, comparing it to films like 'Collateral' and 'To Live and Die in L.A.'
Key locations included Lia’s Tacos at Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, selected personally by production designer Scott Dougan. The 'Sculpting Another Destiny' mural by Ricardo Mendoza in Echo Park featured after securing a licensing fee. The Sixth Street Bridge, opened in 2022, provided iconic views of Downtown and the city skyline, despite early street racing and a nearby biker club during scouting. Other sites were Melrose Place, Calabasas and the Regency Beverly Wilshire.
