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.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES is a slick little crime thriller with a decent cast and a lacklustre script. There's no faulting the performances or the work of actor Jackie Earle Haley in his directorial debut, but the problem with this one is the lack of likable characters and the clichéd nature of the plot. A group of four twentysomething buddies lose their investment and get into hot water when it transpires that one of them borrowed money from mafia man John Travolta (at his oiliest). There are edgy performances from established performers like Dan Stevens (check out that hair!) and Michael Pitt, but the script mistakes profanity for originality and as such the narrative remains resolutely average.

TO PERSON WHO ARE GOING TO SEE THE MOVE....This will give away a lot of it, so I suggest you read this AFTER you've seen the movie.I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. And I know it's only fiction, but the plan revealed at the end had some major flaws. How did the guy making the plan know the following stuff: 1. The guy behind the stock was going to be arrested? 2. The two friends not involved with the scam were going to be interested in investing in the stock? 2.Their two friends not involved in the scam were going to go along with the kidnapping plan and not go directly to the cops? 3.The kidnapping was going to be successful? This means:a. The guy being kidnapped wasn't going to be able to maneuver out of it especially since he had a gunb. The feds chasing them weren't going to be able to stop them? 4. The kidnappers uncle was going to offer a reward for his nephew? AND go through with it especially after he learned his nephew was a rat?

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.