every outhouse and hen house
Six Great Crime Movies That'll Make You Root For The Bad Guys
We used to love watching movies on basic cable, but in the age of streaming services, live TV just doesn't cut it anymore because you can't pause and rewind as you please. And if you've been around your dad in the living room, then you know there's nothing better than sitting on the couch, putting on an action movie and then maybe taking a nap through it until an explosion or gun shot wakes you up.
But we wanted to focus on the bad guys with a good heart, as we have a soft spot for certain criminals who we can totally understand what they did and why they did it, or in some cases, why others think they've broken the law. Suspected but innocent criminals are oftentimes the best protagonists of stories, as we root for them to beat the charges and clear their name.
Here's our list of six crime films where we want the hero to get away with it. And remember, just because someone calls you a criminal, that doesn't always mean you actually did anything wrong. That's a key distinction here, as people should be considered innocent until proven guilty.
'Widows' (2018)
Steve McQueen might be the best director working today and nobody knows his name (or at least, most people confuse him with the actor of the same name). His most accessible and mainstream movie is "Widows," a bank robbery thriller that's mixed with a noir and a melodrama based on an '80s UK TV series.
This has an unbelievable cast giving all-world performances, as well as McQueen's patented long shots and brilliant cinematography. And the entire time we want Viola Davis to steal all that money! And Elizabeth Debicki, they deserve it! Their husbands were terrible to them.
'Thief' (1981)
Michael Mann's movie about a thief has an appropriately succinct name, and is one of James Caan's best performances. Its most famous scene is set in a diner, and this is a very underrated and under seen re-watchable.
And, we love Frank trying to escape his life of safe cracking, he's the absolute best. Being a cat burglar seems like a very cool job.
'Bronson' (2008)
For cinephiles and nerds like us, this put Tom Hardy on the radar (and then "Inception" put him on the map two years later). But for us, this is his best performance because he is just totally criminally insane and violent 100 percent of the run time.
Nicolas Winding Refn is a crazed madman of a director and he lets Hardy just go ham on those poor coppers. Beating up prison guards is also cathartic.
'No Sudden Move' (2021)
Steven Soderbergh sure did make a lot of movies after saying he was going to "retire" from filmmaking about a decade ago in an interview. This movie came out, seemingly out of nowhere with very little notice or marketing, and has a ridiculous star studded cast.
Don Cheadle is a man caught up in a heist gone bad that ropes in the automotive industry, a mob boss, and a different mafia entirely into a comedy of errors. Seeing who makes it out okay at the end is quite the thrill.
Watch it here with a Max subscription.
'I Want To Live!' (1958)
Susan Hayward won the Oscar for Best Actress for playing Barbara Graham, a real woman who was very controversially put to death for a crime she claims she never committed.
This movie version takes her side, and tells the tale of an innocent prostitute who got screwed over by the system and ends up dying. This caused a bit of an uproar in real life, something that doesn't really happen about death row inmates today.
'The Fugitive' (1993)
The trailer for this alone might have won Tommy Lee Jones his lone Academy Award. But everything about this movie is incredible, this is one of the most rewatchable action films ever made, it's so god damn good, everyone should see it.
Harrison Ford might be known for being Han Solo and Indiana Jones, but he should be remembered for being Dr. Richard Kimble. He's the most famous "murderer" who is presumed to be guilty, and no single good guy has ever had such a hard time not being arrested for something he didn't do!
Watch it here for free on Tubi.
If you enjoyed this list, we have another one! Here are some more movies we love that you can watch right now on YouTube. Well, if you're reading this in August 2023, that is.
