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.

B-movies can be fun, they also can be bad. Or they can be quite alright. And this for me was the latter. It wasn't really bad, but it didn't really give me that much. So while there were a few things that didn't quite work, I did like the overall chemistry. There were a couple of missed opportunities, considering the set up the movie could work with, but that doesn't mean it didn't get the things right it did use (eye of the beholder and all).There is tension and there is decisions that do not make too much sense. There are also a couple too many forgettable characters thrown into the mix. And there are the (sometimes) foreseeable twists and turns in the story and character development ... Does that sound enticing to you?

"Criminal Activities" aspires to be a Quentin Tarantino-like riddle of a crime-action-dark comedy. Unfortunately, it fails on all three levels of a crime saga, action picture, and dark humor.John Travolta is good as a mob boss who appears to be the center of convoluted crime story. Or is he? The screenplay for "Criminal Activities" resorts to an epilogue that seeks to put a twist on the story a kidnapping and high stakes blackmail of a group of four men who have made a lapse in judgment in borrowing money to invest in a pharmaceutical company. Their scheme backfires, and they are now confronted by Travolta's mob boss for payback time.There are too many stretches of the film that are poorly paced and thin on action. Also, it is difficult to understand a good portion of the dialogue that is spoken too fast by the actors.In the bonus section of the DVD, the character actor Jackie Earle Hayley recalls how he came to direct the picture. In a conversation with Travolta, Hayley discusses the great potential of the screenplay. Unfortunately, the cliché-ridden script was the biggest problem of the film. There was a fine cast of young actors, especially Edi Gathegi, who steals all of his scenes with clever line readings. But the final effect of the film is flat and non-engaging.

okay. so it looks like tom hardy and Michael pitt look a lot alike. Tj Miller, danny McBride, they can be identified within this film.....but what was I watching? three hours later, six months later...stuff. buddies that hang out with each other and you can see whose numbest. I'm lookin at the black guy like hes memerized a role by Bernie mac or Eddie Griffith. I see a NY accent anger and frustration come out of Michael pitt like he knows hes going to live to be as old as anybody else. Jon Travolta, hes doin something like Michael Douglas in the Game...and the whole time I'm thinking: somebodys out there autistically re doing the script for deadpool...BUT IS HE? so...bring in our most reassuring and intimidating character..the guy from both Bad news Bears and the new updated Robocop... and this move ends up cleaning up after itself for the last ten minutes of the movie EXPLAINING which dick did what so that we could see that nobody gets a good deal....