vismay235 No suspense, no thriller, no entertainment, no action. Lead actors done films just for kissing scenes.

erikacunanan29 MORE REVIEWS AT booksequalhappiness.blogspot.comREVIEW: This movie really didn't make much sense to me. I don't know what's the purpose of it. Ansel Elgort and Chloe Moretz are both amazing actors and the only reason why I watched this movie was because of them. The plot wasn't anything new. I didn't care much for the characters because we knew nothing about them. We were just led to believe by Addison that Kevin wouldn't do anything like that. I think at some parts Addison made stupid and rash decisions that could have almost gotten him killed. I felt like I wasted my time after watching it.SHOULD YOU WATCH IT: If you don't want to waste your time, no. WOULD I WATCH IT AGAIN: Definitely not.

bkoganbing Ansel Elgort who scored so well in Baby Driver as the young getaway driver in that multi-caper film plays the lead here in November Criminals. After losing his virginity to Chloe Grace Moretz he learns that a friend from school was shot down execution style on his job in a cafeteria. It really unnerves him and Elgort is a sensitive kid, college bound and now with a new girlfriend. But he feels that the shooting is going to be put aside and turn cold on the already crime ridden Washington, DC police. Elgort really ticks off all the authorities, police, educational and even his widowed father. Not to mention the mother of Moretz, Catherine Keener also raising her as a single parent. In the end he finds out he didn't know the friend he had as well as he thought and it almost costs him his life.Both Moretz and Elgort are an attractive couple and I'm agreeing with the other reviewer who said he thought they might be an off screen item. They certainly did have good chemistry together.Look for a nice performance from Danny Flaherty as a former schoolmate of Elgort who has dropped out for the lucrative trade of illegal pharmaceuticals. He looks like he's own best customer. And the shooter Phillip Ettinger is also memorable.Ansel Elgort could have a big future in the cinema.

lavatch This low-budget "suspense" film wrapped up shooting after a whirlwind period of a little over month, and the rushed production process is apparent in the final product. In the bonus track of the DVD of "November Criminals," the novelist Sam Munson, whose book was the basis for the film, summed up his themes of "resistance" of the two young detectives and their "uncertain quest for justice." While those noble goals were interesting, they were not fully realized in a film that lacked credibility from start to finish.First, it was not convincing why the two young detectives would try to solve the cold-blooded murder of a high school friend. The school scenes were not believable, and despite the two earnest performances, it was difficult to imagine that the two students, Addison and Phoebe, would ever be admitted to the University of Chicago and Yale, based on what we see of them in this film. There was only one scene where we saw Phoebe pretending to do some studying. The entire premise of the film seemed far-fetched.One of the gimmicks used in the screenplay was a tried and true film technique for any formula murder mystery: to make the police stupid and incompetent. In this case, it should not have been difficult for the authorities to follow the same process of investigation as Addison and Phoebe that would lead them to a killer who failed miserably in covering his tracks.The actress playing the role of Phoebe indicated in the behind-the-scenes track of the DVD that "every emotion in the human spectrum" appears in this film. But from the perspective of the audience, the emotional range was actually very narrow with a morose feeling hovering over every aspect of the film--school, home, and society.The home life of Addison and Phoebe was one-dimensional gloom and doom. Addision lives in a modest house with his dad following the death of his mom who suffered an aneurysm. Both father and son are still grief-stricken, and the house is slovenly and unkempt. By contrast, Phoebe resides in an immaculate, upscale home with all the latest amenities. Yet she and her single parent mother rarely communicate, and Phoebe is always eager to get out of the house. In both the living environments of Addison and Phoebe, the mood is lugubrious.Some subtle details in the film point to the shocking use of drugs by the best friends of Addison and Phoebe. Like the inept police, the secret world of drug addiction seemed like another plot device, as opposed to deriving from character development. The most outlandish scene is when Addison, desperate for clues about his friend's murder, agrees to make a drug delivery. It turns out that the recipient is one of his high school classmates and the dearest friend of Phoebe.The film's director, Sacha Gervasi, asserted that the film "sends a positive message" to viewers. But what actually is that positive message? The film begins with a quote from the Latin author Virgil, who wrote that "fortune sides with him who dares." But for young Addison, who believes that he somehow "has it covered" in his reckless private eye work, the more daring quest would be the formidable challenge of gaining admission to the University of Chicago.