What Life of Crime Is Actually About
Life of Crime follows two common criminals who think they've spotted an easy mark. They've done their homework, planned their approach, and they're ready to execute what should be a straightforward kidnapping in Detroit — except the woman they grab turns out to be far less valuable than they'd calculated. Her husband, a corrupt real-estate developer, shows absolutely no interest in paying the million-dollar ransom they're demanding. What unfolds is a darkly comic spiral where their victim becomes increasingly important to them while the money that was supposed to change their lives simply never materializes. It's a premise that should sing — the tagline "Right target. Wrong woman" captures the central irony perfectly — but the film struggles to make that tension land with consistent impact.
Based on Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel The Switch, the material carries Leonard's fingerprints all over it: crime-world characters with their own warped logic, dialogue that crackles with specificity, and a Detroit setting that feels lived-in rather than merely decorative. Leonard's work has proven adaptable before — his novel Rum Punch became Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown in 1997, a film that understood how to let his characters breathe and talk their way through morally murky situations. Life of Crime inherits that literary pedigree but can't quite channel it into something that works.
Behind the Making of Life of Crime
Director Daniel Schechter wrote and directed Life of Crime, bringing the Leonard adaptation to screen in 2013 after the script had been in development through multiple hands. The film premiered at the closing night of the Toronto International Film Festival that year, which typically signals a certain prestige — though it later screened at Abu Dhabi and Traverse City festivals before Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions released it theatrically on August 29, 2014. That gap between festival premiere and theatrical release sometimes tells a story: a film that needed time to find its audience, or that struggled to find one at all.
The cast includes solid character actors and recognizable names, though the film rarely capitalizes on their individual strengths in ways that build momentum. What's striking is how a movie with this much source material credibility and this much production backing (Abbolita Productions, The Gotham Group, and Starstream Entertainment all had a hand in it) landed with such a thud commercially. The runtime clocks in at 94 minutes — lean enough that you'd think every scene would earn its place — yet the film often feels either rushed or, paradoxically, like it's spinning its wheels. It didn't capture significant awards attention, and the IMDb rating of 5.73/10 reflects the critical and audience indifference that greeted it. Sometimes a film with a strong premise and experienced hands just doesn't come together.
Why Life of Crime Struggles to Find Its Footing
The central problem with Life of Crime is tonal inconsistency. Leonard's novels work because his characters occupy a specific register — they're funny because they're serious people in ridiculous situations, not because the film is winking at the audience. Here, the movie can't decide whether it's playing the kidnapping as genuinely tense, as absurdist comedy, or as character study. It lurches between modes in ways that undercut the premise rather than deepen it.
There are moments — scattered throughout — where you catch a glimpse of what this could have been. The dynamic between the criminals and their victim has potential; the Detroit setting grounds the story in a real place with real economic stakes that make the ransom demand feel consequential rather than arbitrary. But the performances never quite lock into a shared understanding of the film's logic. One actor seems to be in a crime thriller, another in a caper, another in something closer to a character study. When that happens, it's nearly impossible for an audience to settle in, because they're getting mixed signals about what kind of film they're watching and what they should care about.
What's frustrating is that Leonard's source material actually solved this problem already. The novelist understood that you could be funny and serious simultaneously — that crime and consequence don't cancel out comedy, they sharpen it. Life of Crime has the blueprint but not the execution. The dialogue occasionally sparkles, the Detroit locations feel authentic, and the central conceit is genuinely clever. It just needed a director and cast all operating from the same emotional playbook, and that never quite happens here.
Where to Stream Life of Crime Online
If you're curious enough to give Life of Crime a chance, the film is currently available across major OTT services. Rather than hunting through multiple platforms individually, Movie OTT aggregates current streaming availability in one place, so you can see exactly where the film is accessible right now — whether that's on a subscription service you already have or one you might consider adding. Streaming catalogs shift regularly, so checking the "Where to Watch" widget at the top of this page will give you the most up-to-date information on which platforms are currently carrying it. The 94-minute runtime makes it an easy watch if you're looking for something to fill an evening, even if the film itself doesn't entirely justify the time investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Life of Crime based on a true story?
No. Life of Crime is based on Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel The Switch, a work of crime fiction. While Leonard's novels often feel grounded in real-world criminal logic and Detroit's actual economic landscape, the kidnapping plot is fictional.
Q: Who directed Life of Crime?
Daniel Schechter wrote and directed the film. It was his feature directorial effort, adapting Leonard's source material with a screenplay of his own.
Q: What's the connection between Life of Crime and Jackie Brown?
Both films are based on Elmore Leonard novels — Life of Crime comes from The Switch (1978), while Jackie Brown (1997) was adapted from Leonard's Rum Punch (1992). The novels share some characters and exist in the same criminal universe, though the films are separate stories.
Q: When was Life of Crime released?
Life of Crime premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013 and received its theatrical release on August 29, 2014, distributed by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.
Q: How long is Life of Crime?
The film runs 94 minutes, making it a relatively compact crime comedy that moves briskly from setup to resolution.
Final Thoughts on Life of Crime
Life of Crime is the kind of film that should work on paper. You've got a literary source by a master of crime fiction, a clever central premise, a recognizable cast, and a director who understood the material. Yet somewhere between conception and execution, the pieces didn't align. It's not a disaster — it's competent filmmaking that just never quite catches fire. If you're an Elmore Leonard completist or you're curious about how his work translates to screen beyond Jackie Brown, it's worth a look. But it's not essential viewing, and it's easy to understand why it didn't leave much of a mark when it arrived in theaters.
