Criminal Activities – Blu-Ray Movie Review

Four friends stumble into a deal too good to refuse. But when the investment goes bad, they learn that part of their funding came from a notoriously ruthless crime boss… and its payback time. Now, they must successfully kidnap a family member of a rival kingpin in order to erase the life-threatening debt. In way over their heads, if they can complete the assigned task without screwing up, they just might escape with their lives. But, since when does anything every go as planned?

This is Haley’s directorial debut, and it is not a bad first effort. The story sets up with the reunion of some college friends that are looking for a “sure thing” investment. To get some collateral, they borrow some money. When the plan goes bust, they find out that they borrowed the cash from a mobster. Of course, they can’t pay him back…but the mobster (Travolta) offers them an exchange for payment. They must kidnap a rival mob boss’s son and hold him for 24 hours. Once they accept, things spin out of control. I loved the premise, but the twist at the end was so ludicrous that it almost ruined the entire story for me. Let’s just say that the movie went from interesting situation to “revenge of the nerd” in the last twenty minutes

I was left shaking my head. The acting is all pretty good, but Travolta looked like a vampire. I suspect he was brought in just to give the movie some extra street cred, but he seemed to just be collecting a pay check for this one. Haley portrays a hit man with a wonderful sense of calm menace. The other actors were mostly new faces for me, but they were very good, too.

The picture and sound are good, but not outstanding with this BD. There is a bit of harsh film grain in the darks scenes, but the black shadows are inky and the surround sound is often in use. Skin tones are very good, but Travolta’s hair looked almost plastic.

Not sure what I expected here, but the extras are a bit thin. Included are a few interviews and deleted scenes.