Saturday, January 21, 2023

The Incremental Criminal

There aren’t many movies that I choose to watch based on an actor rather than the director or a plot description, but Aubrey Plaza movies are an exception. She has a knack for appearing in low budget indie movies with fresh and unusual scripts. (The same was once true of Juno Temple, but lately her cable TV career has kept her too busy.) Not all of them work. I hated An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn and had a mixed reaction to the oddball zombie film Life after Beth. But when they work (about half do) they work well. The quirky scifi Safety Not Guaranteed was marvelous as was Ingrid Goes West, an all too credible film about the intersection of social media and real life for a troubled young woman. So, I’m willing to give Aubrey’s movies a shot regardless of critical reviews one way or the other. I’m glad I did in the case of the 2022 Emily the Criminal.


Emily (Aubrey) embodies Millennial disillusion. She belongs to a generation told as kids that wonderful fulfilling futures lay ahead (though, oddly, also told the world would end in a dozen years) only to face-plant on reality after college. Emily carries $70,000 in student debt for a degree that landed her nothing more than a food service job that doesn’t pay enough to keep up with the interest on her loans. She shares an overcrowded apartment, has no time for her art, and is offered an unpaid internship that she is told is an “opportunity.” A felony assault on her record (she had a fight with her ex-boyfriend) further damages her chances of employment. In consequence, we understand (if not sympathize) when she accepts a $200 per hour offer from a fellow named Youcef to be a dummy shopper and buy high end electronics with stolen credit card numbers. By increments she gets ever deeper into the fraud schemes of Youcef until she becomes the one goading him to do more.
 
In his initial interview with her, Youcef says that no one will get hurt. Anyone who has been a victim of fraud knows this is untrue. Even if personal losses from credit card fraud are covered by the credit card provider, recovery is a hassle at best. Many – in fact most – types of losses are not covered at all. In these cases savings, credit, and lives of victims can be destroyed.
 
Many fraudsters are simply sociopaths. They have no empathy for others and think narcissistically only about their own gain. They believe it is their victims’ own fault for letting themselves be cheated. Others, however, are like Emily, who is not without empathy in a general way. They go down the slippery slope to crime in incremental slips and slides. They may start with something as simple as misstating income on a loan application without an intent to fail to repay the loan. Embezzlers at first typically intend to pay back improperly “borrowed” cash… but when they get away with it, keeping the money and taking more become tempting. Humans – including those who regard themselves as “good people” – are very good at rationalizing unethical behavior, e.g. “Hey, I didn’t create the system in which you best can get ahead by cheating. I’m just playing the game as I found it.” It is a game that all too frequently ends tragically for oneself and others.
 
So, it is a big Thumbs Up for Emily the Criminal. The film once again demonstrates that high budgets, fancy fx, and extreme stunt work are unnecessary for a good picture. All you need are good writing and a competent cast.
 
Trailer: Emily the Criminal


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