# Criminal (2016 film)
**Criminal** is a 2016 American action thriller directed by Ariel Vromen, written by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, and starring [Kevin Costner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-costner) as a death-row inmate who receives the memories of a dead CIA agent through an experimental brain procedure.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) The film was released in the United States on April 15, 2016, runs 113 minutes, and was distributed by Lionsgate.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3014866/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Ariel Vromen; screenplay by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) |
| Lead cast | Kevin Costner (Jerico Stewart), Ryan Reynolds (Bill Pope), Gary Oldman (Quaker Wells), Tommy Lee Jones (Dr. Franks), Gal Gadot (Jill Pope)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) |
| Release | April 15, 2016 (wide, United States); R rating; 1h 53m[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) |
| Box office | $38,803,993 worldwide; $14,708,696 domestic; $5,767,278 domestic opening[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3014866/) |
| Critical reception | 30% Tomatometer (135 reviews); Metascore 36 from 27 critic reviews[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/criminal-2016/) |
| Production | Shot in nine weeks, largely in South and East London[4](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/04/14/interview-ariel-vromen-talks-about-criminal/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
While on his way to a covert meeting spot with a hacker capable of firing missiles at any target he chooses, CIA operative Bill Pope ([Ryan Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-reynolds)) is killed. Desperate to recover the information in Pope's head, officials turn to an experimental neurosurgeon, Dr. Franks ([Tommy Lee Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-lee-jones)), who can transfer memories from one brain to another. The recipient is Jerico Stewart (Kevin Costner), a violent death-row inmate whose brain, in the film's premise, makes him a suitable candidate for the procedure.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) • [5](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/criminal-an-interview-with-director-ariel-vromen/)
Pope had been killed after delivering a Dutch programmer, Jan Stroop, known as "The Dutchman" ([Michael Pitt](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-pitt)), to a safe house. The CIA performs the transplant hoping Jerico will remember where Pope placed Stroop, but the convict initially recalls nothing. When a terrorist organization tries to kill him, Jerico escapes and goes to Pope's wife Jill ([Gal Gadot](https://www.edgepedia.org/gal-gadot)) for information about what the agent was doing. There he begins to feel compassion for the first time and sets out to finish Pope's mission.[6](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/Criminal/106715/) The antagonist, Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Mollà), believes the world would be better off without governments and plans to take them all down.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3014866/plotsummary/)
## Production
**Director and script.** Ariel Vromen, an Israeli-born director whose earlier films include *Danika* (2005) and *The Iceman* (2012), directed the film from a screenplay by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, the writers of *The Rock*.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/criminal-2016) • [9](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/criminal-review/5102368.article) Vromen said the memory-transfer concept drew him to the project: he described memory as central to identity and noted that science was already progressing toward deleting or transferring memories in animals, though not yet in humans.[5](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/criminal-an-interview-with-director-ariel-vromen/) He was involved in revising the script to simplify a story he described as complicated, and he took a director credit only.[4](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/04/14/interview-ariel-vromen-talks-about-criminal/)
**Schedule and locations.** The film was shot in nine weeks, a schedule Vromen contrasted with the months many directors receive. [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) took place in England, with the production design driving the discovery of South and [East London](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-london) locations.[4](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/04/14/interview-ariel-vromen-talks-about-criminal/) Costner said he refused the role at first and insisted the production not "pretty me up" for the part of the convict.[10](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/4/13/18326340/kevin-costner-insisted-they-didn-t-pretty-me-up-for-criminal)
## Reception
**Critical response.** The film received generally unfavorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 30% Tomatometer from 135 reviews, with a critics consensus that despite the efforts of a talented cast the film offers little beyond the bare minimum for undemanding genre viewers; the audience Popcornmeter stands at 47%.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 36 based on 27 critic reviews, categorized as generally unfavorable, against a user score of 5.8 from 127 ratings.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/criminal-2016/)
Reviewers frequently noted the gap between the cast and the material. Time Out's Tom Huddleston called the film a "bonkers mash-up" of *The Bourne Identity* and *The Man with Two Brains* and remarked that it somehow attracted Costner, Reynolds, Jones, Gadot, and Oldman despite a laughable plot and ridiculous dialogue.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/criminal-2) [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s Todd McCarthy wrote that, the leading man aside, a fine cast was thoroughly wasted in a tale centered on old-fashioned Cold War-style conflict.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3014866/criticreviews/) Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it a pleasantly far-fetched endeavor that moves briskly enough to leave no time to consider its implausibilities, while also judging it more violent than it needs to be.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-criminal-review-20160415-column.html) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/criminal-2016/)
**Box office.** The film grossed $14,708,696 domestically (37.9% of its total) and $24,095,297 internationally, for a worldwide total of $38,803,993, on a domestic opening of $5,767,278.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3014866/) Its earliest release was in Taiwan on August 21, 2015, and its largest international market was China, where a May 13, 2016 release grossed $15,772,274.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3014866/) [Home video](https://www.edgepedia.org/home-video) sales were estimated at $4,834,636, with the video release on July 12, 2016 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.[14](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Criminal-%282015%29)
## The science behind the premise
The film's central device, transferring one person's memories into another brain, has a real research history, though not a successful one. In the 1960s, experiments appeared to show that brain material from a trained rat could transmit a learned response to an untrained rat; a 1965 *Science News Letter* report described injected animals "remembering" whether a light flash or a sound signal meant food. The claims did not hold up: the researchers reported their failure in *Science* in 1966.[15](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/claim-memory-transfer-made-50-years-ago) Eric Kandel, the neuroscientist who won the 2000 Nobel Prize for his work on memory, has said the idea of transferring a person's memories to another person or a computer is likely to remain speculation, because brain wiring is too intricate to be exactly replicated and scientists are still learning how memories are made, stored, and retrieved.[15](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/claim-memory-transfer-made-50-years-ago)
The premise places *Criminal* in a line of consciousness-transfer thrillers that includes *Face/Off* and *[Self/less](https://www.edgepedia.org/self-less)*, the latter of which also starred Ryan Reynolds.[16](https://www.jestersreviews.com/reviews/5503)
## References
1. [Criminal (2016), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/criminal_2016)
2. [Criminal (2016), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3014866/)
3. [Criminal Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/criminal-2016/)
4. [Interview: Ariel Vromen Talks About Criminal, Awards Daily](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/04/14/interview-ariel-vromen-talks-about-criminal/)
5. [Criminal: An Interview with Director Ariel Vromen, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/criminal-an-interview-with-director-ariel-vromen/)
6. [Criminal (2016) Movie Plot and Synopsis, Tribute Movies](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/Criminal/106715/)
7. [Criminal (2016) Plot, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3014866/plotsummary/)
8. [Criminal movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/criminal-2016)
9. ['Criminal': Review, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/criminal-review/5102368.article)
10. [Kevin Costner insisted they didn't 'pretty me up' for 'Criminal', Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/4/13/18326340/kevin-costner-insisted-they-didn-t-pretty-me-up-for-criminal)
11. [Criminal 2016, directed by Ariel Vromen, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/criminal-2)
12. [Criminal (2016) Metacritic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3014866/criticreviews/)
13. [Kevin Costner plays against type in the Frankenstein-ish 'Criminal', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-criminal-review-20160415-column.html)
14. [Criminal (2015), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Criminal-%282015%29)
15. [Claim of memory transfer made 50 years ago, Science News](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/claim-memory-transfer-made-50-years-ago)
16. [Criminal (2016), Jesters Reviews](https://www.jestersreviews.com/reviews/5503)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 2010s › Espionage and spy thrillers*
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