blanche-2 Directed by Jackie Earle Haley, "Criminal Activities" from 2015 is about four high school friends - Zack, Noah, Warren, and Bryce (Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Rob Brown, Christopher Abbott, who meet up after the funeral of their friend Matthew. Warren tells them about a stock that's about to go up - he has insider trading info - and the agent who has been stockpiling the stock is getting nervous about being caught and needs to dump his shares. He wants $200,000. Noah says he can get it. The stock tanks and wipes out the investment. Unfortunately, Noah neglected to tell him the money came from a mobster, Eddie (John Travolta) and he wants repayment of $400,000 - accrued interest. He will wipe the slate clean if they will help him with a problem he's having - kidnap the brother of the man who kidnapped his niece so that he can get her back.Boy could this have been better. It's a complicated story, and a good one, but the script and direction aren't strong enough to carry it. It's similar to many other films of today with its surprises, but at the end of the film I was left confused about certain money issues. There is an homage to Pulp Fiction with the presence of Travolta and the guys' initial meeting at the Royale. And it has gross violence, just like Tarantino. It's just not Tarantino.The acting is uneven with some good performances. Travolta does a great job, but earth to Travolta: if you're bald, shave your head and/or wear an expensive hairpiece, and stop looking like a chimpanzee with that hairline. It's so distracting.The director, Jackie Earle Haley, hands in a good performance, as do Pitt, Edi Gathegi, Pitt, and Stevens.

andrewmcl83-170-764416 Im not going to say much other than it reminded me of suicide kinds with a much better twist. Iveseen a lot of reviews where people are complaining about the twist at the end. I found it totally unpredictable and actually gave you an answer to the whole movie unlike so many movies today where it ends with someone just walking away and you are left saying "that's it"? I gave it a 7 only because 7.7 isn't an option. I would watch it a second time and i do suggest this movie as a good movie that will not leave you feeling you've wasted your time. Also, i had no problems with any of the acting, overall i would give the actors a 7 as well.

Larry Silverstein This film contains some dark humor and a surprise twist ending, but in my opinion it's barely a grade B-movie. We've seen many similar type movies over the years, so, to me, this one came across as rather a "poor cousin" in comparison to some of the others that are named by several reviewers on this site.This is one of those films that if I revealed too much about the plot details I would be writing too many spoilers, so let's just say all is not what it seems on screen. However, when the reasons for what's occurring are revealed it just seemed quite flimsy to me.This movie marks the directorial debut of acclaimed actor Jackie Earle Haley, who also is excellent in a supporting role here. Robert Lowell also makes his screen debut as the scriptwriter. All in all, the film is not going to win any awards, but I was interested enough to want to know how it would all turn out, even though some of the journey was a bit painful. In the end, it all just seemed more of a gimmick than anything else.

leonblackwood Review: I can honestly say that I didn't have high hopes for this movie but it didn't turn out to be totally bad. The 4 dumb criminals, Zach (Michael Pitt), Noah (Dan Stevens), Warren (Christopher Abbott) and Bryce (Rob Brown), really didn't have a clue about kidnapping but they were stuck in an impossible situation after borrowing $200,000 from mob boss, Eddie (John Travolta). After a bad investment, they end up owing Eddie $400,000, so to pay there debt, they have to kidnap Marques (Edi Gathegi), who is the brother of a gangster who has kidnapped Eddie's niece. I know it sounds confusing but it's pretty straight forward. Whilst holding Marques in a derelict building, Gerry (Jackie Earle Haley) is on the hunt for Eddie's niece so the 4 best friends are stuck with Marques, waiting for instructions from Eddie. When the storyline unfolds, you soon realise that all is not what it seems, in a Usual Suspects type of way but I do have to watch the movie again to truly understand the major twist. The acting isn't bad from the whole cast, especially Edi Gathegi and Michael Pitt but the professionalism from John Travolta, makes the rest of the cast look quite amateur. The character that I really liked throughout the film was Jackie Earle Haley, who also directed the movie, so he really gave his all to this project. It's not in the same league as Usual Suspects but it's a watchable movie which isn't bad for the directors debut. Watchable!Round-Up: I first saw Jackie Earle Haley, 54, in Little Children, we're he played a paedophile and was extremely creepy, and since then he has starred in some big movies like All The King's Men, Semi-Pro, Fragments, Watchmen, where he played Rorschach extremely well, Shutter Island, Lincoln, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Dark Shadows, Parkland, Robocop and the upcoming London Has Fallen. He really has an impressive portfolio, which is understandable because he's an unique actor who brings intensity to all of his roles. As for this movie, I think the ending was extremely rushed and a lot of the scenes with the 4 kidnappers were average. He was lucky to get such a diverse cast, who all brought something different to the project but I would have liked to have seen more from Travolta and Haley, who were the best thing in the movie.I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama/thrillers starring John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Rob Brown, Jackie Earle Haley and Christopher Abbott. 4/10