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With so many movies being filmed and released yearly, it’s no wonder that some remain overlooked and underrated; the crime genre isn’t immune to that, either. This may be especially true for films from the 2000s. Some swept theaters and viewers’ hearts, from The Dark Knight to Inglourious Basterds, while others remained in the shadows of these deserving blockbusters.
Luckily, Reddit users discuss everything and anything, including some of the most underrated crime films of the 2000s. These Redditors talked about some of the slickest crime films of the era that have unfortunately flown under the radar.
‘Conspiracy’ (2001)
Does anyone remember Conspiracy? This historical crime drama with Stanley Tucci and Kenneth Branagh (among so many others) centers around the meeting of SS officers in Berlin at the beginning of World War II; this meeting was the Wannsee conference.
Since most of the world is familiar with what happened during WWII, this movie doesn’t show more of that. It shows the individual opinions and attitudes of SS officers, unraveling them for their monstrous personalities. This movie was released as a TV movie, so it may be why it was heavily overlooked.
‘3000 Miles to Graceland’ (2001)
This crime comedy about Elvis impersonators robbing a casino during an Elvis convention stars Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, and Courtney Cox. It wasn’t overlooked then, but its popularity dwindled quite quickly. It was talked about for mostly the wrong reasons—people really hated it. It’s among the most hated movies by critics that were loved by audiences.
Still, many Redditors agreed that 3000 Miles to Graceland is criminally entertaining and pretty underrated because of so many negative opinions swamping the internet. Some viewers may still agree it’s terrible, but many more love this heist story.
‘The Salton Sea’ (2002)
Some fans call The Salton Sea the movie in which Val Kilmer gave his best performance. He plays Danny, a man who goes through a personal tragedy and is forced to face his demons while grieving. During that period, he gets involved with some pretty bad people.
Next to Kilmer, Vincent d’Onofrio plays the dangerous drug dealer known as Pooh Bear. The movie was first advertised as bleak, gritty, and depressing, but that only reduces it to its basic emotions. While it does get pretty difficult to watch at moments, it’s a stylish crime thriller that is always one step ahead of the viewers.
‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ (2004)
Toby Kebbell‘s debut movie was none other than Dead Man’s Shoes. Still, the star is Paddy Considine, who plays his older brother. The premise is simple—Richard (Considine) is a former soldier who returns home to exact revenge on the men that bullied and abused his younger, mentally-ill brother Anthony (Kebbell).
This suspenseful crime thriller was pretty famous in the UK, but it seems to have gone under the radar with the public worldwide. It gets dark and tough to watch at moments (especially the scenes with fantastic Toby Kebbell), but the revenge is sweet. Fans have no choice but to cheer for Paddy Considine’s Richard, who manages to act out rage in a subtle but eerie manner; be wary—many critics called this movie a slasher.
‘Brick’ (2005)
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Before Rian Johnson stood at the director’s helm of Star Wars: Episode VIII and Knives Out, he directed other creative and visually stunning features; Brick is one of them. This feature is about Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who finds his ex-girlfriend dead just two days after receiving an upsetting phone call from her.
Brendan is resolved to find out what happened to his ex, Emily (Emilie de Ravin), using one of the few leads he could find—the word “brick.” Many Redditors list this movie as clever, suspenseful, brilliantly directed, and acted. Johnson mentioned drawing inspiration from various Spaghetti Westerns and the anime series Cowboy Bebop for the feature.
‘Green Street Hooligans’ (2005)
The feature that propelled Charlie Hunnam to stardom, Green Street Hooligans, was a rather famous film in the UK when it came out. It’s a story set in London, revolving around groups of football hooligans known as “firms.” At its center is a young student American football hooligan Matt (Elijah Wood), and Matt’s friend, Pete (Hunnam).
Pete reluctantly introduces Matt to the world of firms, but as it usually goes, Matt becomes desensitized to the violence around him. Green Street Hooligans is quite gritty and violent, but the characters are committed to it. It’s one of Britain’s most vital exports to show the underground of their modern sports culture.
‘This is England’ (2006)
Following the rise of Green Street Hooligans, This is England came out in 2006 and became an instant cult classic. What’s interesting about this feature is that it has the same writer and director as another on this list—Dead Man’s Shoes. Shane Meadows single-handedly created legendary British movies that propelled their cast to the stars. Stephen Graham brilliantly portrays the angry and violent Combo in this feature.
This is England is set in 1983, and it’s about a boy named Shane trying to fit into a group of skinheads after meeting them by accident. Unsupervised and bored, Shane increasingly bonds with the group, leading to tough decisions and challenging beliefs. This movie was loved because of how well it dives into the eighties; it was filmed and written to resemble the times well and depicts the struggles of the British working class. Meadows also wrote the spin-off This is England series set in 1986, 1988, and 1990.
‘The Bank Job’ (2008)
Jason Statham always had a knack for choosing high-stakes action movies, but his crime thrillers are some of the best to watch. Most recently, he starred in Guy Ritchie‘s fantastic feature Wrath of Man, but ten-plus years before, he starred in The Bank Job. Although these two movies only have heists and Statham in common, both are very exciting and gripping crime movies.
The Bank Job revolves around Terry (Statham) falling for a model who lures him into her bank-robbing scheme. However, her plans are far more sinister than he initially believes, and Terry’s left to make decisions that could make or break his opportunity to get some serious money.
‘Bronson’ (2008)
Nicolas Winding Refn‘s movies are essentially depictions of neon-clad violence. However, one of his best features is none other than Bronson. Besides this being a grippingly odd crime drama about one of England’s most violent prisoners, Charlie Bronson, it’s also the performance of Tom Hardy‘s career. However, many come close. Considering the chemistry between the two, it’s strange that this film isn’t discussed more.
Bronson tells the tale of a convict who wanted to be famous. He’d always pull insane stunts that put him back in prison; he first robbed a bank and got sentenced to seven years. That slowly turned into thirty-four years behind bars, primarily in solitary confinement. Charlie Bronson was only his alter-ego, but that name most knew him. Interestingly, the real-life actor Charles Bronson wasn’t allowed to see the movie when it first came out. However, upon seeing it in 2011, he deemed it “theatrical, creative, and brilliant.”
‘Harry Brown’ (2009)
Despite a lot of noise about this movie when it first came out, Harry Brown starring the great Michael Caine, isn’t talked about that much anymore. However, this movie is not only worth the praise it gets but should be deemed a cult classic by this point. Michael Caine plays Harry Brown, an ex-police officer whose best friend gets murdered by local hooligans.
Instead of relying on the police to get justice, Harry decides to take matters into his own hands. This movie is exciting, suspenseful, and represents the crime genre. Hopefully, it’s not as underrated as Redditors claim, and viewers enjoy watching it. If there are crime flick fans that haven’t seen this one – movie night has just planned itself.
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