Top 25 Crime Dramas - PART 2
What is a crime drama?
"Crime dramas are films that focus on the moral dilemmas of criminals. They differ from crime thrillers as the films generally focus on a grimmer and more realistic portrayal of the criminal world over violence and gunplay sequences." - wiki
What are features of a crime drama?
"Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre." - wiki
Is crime drama a genre?
"It is a well-established genre. Audiences have expectations that crime dramas will have high production values, a strong narrative, a good range of characters, etc." - wiki
25. NARC
I’ve long been a champion of creator Joe Carnahan. He’s demonstrated he can pull off the mainstream thrills with underappreciated thrillers like The A-Team movie and The Grey, my favorite Liam Neeson movie. But I think his best work lies in the gritty nature of man’s darkness. NARC is a beautifully dark, deceitful tale of regret, betrayal and murder. It features a menacing performance by Ray Liotta who demonstrates his overwhelming desire to solve a cold case but also proves his limits and those permitted to him by the city of Detroit are not the same. This should be seen as a sign of terrible things to come. Jason Patric as Nick is determined to uncover the truth about the death of an undercover officer, until that truth tests his loyalties and to whom. In the end, one officer is dead, and others just may be soon to follow.
24. Uncut Gems
In a categorized list labeled “Most Surprising Performances of the Last Twenty Years” this outstanding, mesmerizing, utterly chaotic delivery by Adam Sandler would undoubtedly be somewhere at the top of that list. Directed by the Safdie Brothers, they prove here once again their aptitude for complex, deliriously tense thrillers reminiscent of Scorsese and Newell (Donnie Brasco). Their insistent use of regular people local to the area where they are shooting lends a kind of authenticity to their stories that can’t be bought or faked. Taking their lead, in this case Sandler, and inserting him into a fully realized world of jewelry and gems sales and you have a recipe for uncomfortable truths manifested and real coalescing into a tale rife with uncertainty and a constant threat of death. If you’re looking for the most anxiety inducing movie on this list, look no further.
23. Wind River
Just because it feels hopeless, doesn’t mean there isn’t hope to be found. In stories like this, where miracles don’t seem to be aware of such a place, it takes the unwavering efforts of a few, who despite seeing the worst in people on a daily basis, still manage to fight for those that may not be able to on their own. In his directorial debut, writer/director Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) delivers one of his best efforts to date. It is arguably his most bleak storyline, but also his most engrossing. It features one of the best performances so far of Jeremy Renner’s career alongside a fish out of water performance from the always stellar, Elizabeth Olsen. Reluctantly paired up, they piece together a mystery surrounding the death of a Native teen whose remains suggest an uglier truth than what is laid out before them at the crime scene. Despite what it might mean for those involved, the truth will out.
22. Gone Baby Gone
Another directorial debut, Ben Affleck, while a talented actor, showcases he is a potential master in the making behind the camera with his first effort. Starring his brother Casey Affleck, it resides in their hometown of Boston. In the midst of a police investigation over a missing girl, two private detectives are hired to assist in any way they can. Having connections with less wholesome types, the two detectives begin to unravel a mystery that will lead to a decision that would make Sophie (Sophie’s Choice) reach out in solidarity. Not only does this choice threaten to alter everything about these characters, it asks the very same thing of us, forcing us to live vicariously through two private detectives just trying to do the right thing.
21. Brick
This is all at once an homage to the greats that came before it as well as a spin on the genre. It is heavily influenced by hardboiled detective stories, especially those by Dashiell Hammett. The dialogue is unique and takes some getting used to, to fully understand it. It features a mostly high school student cast with Rian Johnson directing and Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring. The period jargon, detective slang and some of Johnson’s own additions combined with a deadpan kind of cool attitude make this not just one of Johnson’s best, it’s a prime, shining example of what making an homage can look like while still very much maintaining its own voice and stylistic choices. Mix in an intriguing mystery and you have something special.
One of the most unique on this list, it’s also one of the most memorable. Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) is famous for combining the severity of an ongoing serial rape and murder case with the self awareness of a satirical comedy. It explores themes of obsession, human absurdity and desperation. Rather than just staying singularly focused on the detectives and solving such heinous acts, it takes a more expansive vantage point of the community forced to live through such immoral times. It takes note of the societal impact of such a situation touching on larger issues like authoritarianism, class conflict and misogyny. It adheres to authenticity by sticking to actual details of a real-life serial murder case that occurred in South Korea from 1986 to 1991 known as the Hwaseong serial murders. It poses questions adjacent to the investigation about justice and the breakdown of confidence in institutions such as the police department. Dramatically enthralling and authentically detailed, it’s considered a serial killer genre masterpiece.
19. Blue Ruin
Blue Ruin is a preview of things to come from writer/director Jeremy Saulnier when he would eventually conjure the masterfully gnashing Green Room. While Green Room possesses more of a nihilistic approach, seemingly violent without provocation or normal societal moral touchstones, Blue Ruin, while still demonstrating abhorrent violence, does seem to have a moral compass directing it. But just because it’s more human in its imperfections and thoughts of justice, doesn’t mean it feels any obligation to end happily or fully finished. It also ends after spending the entire runtime tearing down the notion that just because a character is the main focus in no way makes them morally upright or justifiable in their actions. It is, simply put, a tale of a man with nothing left given an opportunity to, as he sees it, right the wrongs committed against him and his family. As we learn more about him and his family however we discover that neither side is rightfully able to claim any kind of moral high ground. Everyone is guilty here, he’s just making the most of it.
18. Pulp Fiction
There is a forbidden excitement permeating throughout this movie. It feels gritty, like chewing on sand. It’s not the kind of story you turn to looking for examples of humanity’s best. It is a braided concoction of stories colliding like a crushing auto accident. There are no real good guys here, just morally questionable individuals at different levels of the morality scale. Hitmen, drug addicts, a fleeing boxer, diner bandits and a gangster in a pear tree. It’s almost a celebration of bad decisions and adherence to breaking the law. There is a kind of observational quality to the storytelling, keeping opinion and judgment out of it entirely. The characters are going to do what they do, regardless of what we might think of them. It’s dark comedy and revenge violence at its best and is Quentin Tarantino’s magnum opus.
17. Cold in July
One of my favorite cinematic surprises of the last decade, Cold in July came out of nowhere. Randomly catching it on a movie channel one evening and suddenly here is one of my favorite crime thrillers of all-time. It is a spiraling, waking nightmare that somehow only gets worse for its characters the longer they continue to investigate the once simple case of breaking and entering gone wrong. I wrote about this very movie in detail already so I’ll just quote myself and move on:
“Cold in July is indulgent. It has an insatiable appetite for bloody violence and justifies it by creating the most deplorable villains imaginable. Of course these people would meet such a brutal end considering the lives they’ve led. The best thing it does in regards to the evil depicted in this story is finding the line between disgusting and comically evil and tows that line with an amazing amount of grace. The level of their wicked deeds feels otherworldly only because normal people like you and I could never fathom treating another human being in such a manner, nevermind doing it to potentially hundreds of people. But anyone who wasn’t born yesterday knows that despite such acts feeling so far away they are unfortunately never far enough. In fact as we go along with the three leads we learn that sometimes the horridness is far too close for comfort. In the case of Dane and Russel it’s so close they discover it under their own roofs, so to speak.”
16. Fargo
The Coen Brothers are masters of genre bending, combining the severity of murder with distressingly dark comedy. Murder is bad, but it’s also kind of funny, maybe? Based on actual events, they built a fictional story inspired by them. It features reasonable and believable characters often avoiding clichés of the genre. While maintaining an obvious sense of humor about the whole thing, it never undermines the seriousness of such heinous acts. It examines what compels people to push beyond what they know to be sensible or acceptable. It’s a uniquely harsh exploration of human nature bumbling and tripping over themselves the entire way. The setting of a frozen tundra, also known as Minnesota, mirrors the soulless decisions made by many of its characters, them being as lifeless and brutally stark as a snow covered 1987 middle America.
Originating and conquering the subgenre of Spaghetti Westerns, in 1984 Sergio Leone decided to master the crime epic with his tale of ghosts and regrets of a previous life set within the confines of a Prohibition-era gangster film. It showcases the talents of Robert De Niro and James Woods as childhood friends separated by thirty-five years of self-exile when De Niro’s character Noodles returns to his hometown on the Lower East Side of New York. Looking to reconnect with his tattered past, he enters a world he no longer understands what just might be waiting for him. Told in flashbacks, it examines one man’s rise to power and violence among friends long since passed. A history unresolved, a present haunted by a past life and an uncertain future all reside within Noodles, a man looking for a catharsis he may never find. Some find the American Dream, some take it. In the end, for these men marred by violence and crime, they must ask themselves - was it worth it?
14. Mystic River
Clint Eastwood’s filmography behind the lens is hit or miss. When he hits however, like he did with Mystic River, he leaves an indelible mark on cinema forever. Based on Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name, Mystic River is the tragic story of a teen girl’s murder and the history it stirs up among three childhood friends, one of whom is the girl’s gangster father, one a homicide detective and the third a suspect in the investigation. The acting is superb, garnering Oscars for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. It’s a slowly burning drama that allows characters to dictate where the story goes organically. Blind vengeance, grief, betrayal and haunted pasts all encapsulate what makes this a brilliant but sorrowful tragedy.
13. Training Day
If the lesson of “careful what you wish for” was tasked with being taught in the most extreme way possible, it would be titled, Training Day. Looking for a promotion to narcotics officer, rookie L.A. cop Jake is paired with rogue detective Alonzo who will take his newly acquainted rookie on the most harrowing, crime laden and corrupt 24hrs of his life. He will face questions of morality, justice, corruption and loyalty to his brothers in blue. How far will Jake go for his promotion and more importantly, will he even survive the day? If Alonzo has anything to do with it, Jake’s fate hangs in the balance and will require his deepest, most instinctual desires to hold on and make it home at the end of the day.
There it is. Part 1 of the best (my favorite) crime dramas. I could make a list of this genre alone a hundred movies long but I don’t have that kind of time or desire to do such a thing. So 25 will have to suffice. As always, my name is Chase unless you hate everything about this ranking. In which case, say it with me, my name is Jimmy Palmquist. (I’m not sure when I’ll stop with this stupid joke but in the words of the gladiator, Juba, “...not yet. Not yet.”)
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