Crypto (2019)

I get that all three writers are amateurs, but didn't the producers at least pick up on the need for a fine tune/re-write of this convoluted mess of a script?

There's little story that actually makes any sense amongst a ton of buzz words no one will understand in the entire 105 mins of this film, and for that length of time, certainly some unnecessary scenes could've been omitted and others (including the buzz word scenes) elaborated upon. It was never made clear what Martins full duty was, or why he left the big city head office, and so on. It's as if a 5+ hour decent screenplay was shredded, and random pieces put together to total the final runtime. I could go on and on, but it's such a shame no one invested in a seasoned screenwriter to at least fine tune the script, as this production had many decent values to it. The pacing was also slow for my liking, and this film needed to be trimmed down to 90 mins (with a proper script) or played back at 1.2x speed.

The directing/camera work was well executed. The acting by all leads was spot on and convincing, but casting Beau Knapp as Martin was another big mistake. He didn't suit that role/character, and his acting was way too bland. He'd been better off being cast as one of the thugs, instead of pretty much sleeping in his suit trying to act like a white collar exec.

The score was too outstanding for this film... I mean top notch, and created some great tension and suspense, but seemed overbearing next to the convoluted plot.

Aside from that, unless you have any idea about crypto currency and forensic accounting (luckily I do, and I was still confused), you'll lose interest in this film pretty fast.

Really too bad considering everything else was done really well. Sadly, it's only a generous 6/10 from me.

Fmovies: Crypto (2019) is fairly standard DTV fare. The script tosses around a lot of buzz words about crypto currencies and money laundering. The plot involves money laundering, Russian mobsters, multi-million-dollar paintings that look as if they could have been mass-produced in a factory in Mexico alongside the paintings on velvet, murder, extortion, embezzlement, the dark web, kidnapping, and other nefarious activities, none of which makes much sense. The script offers a few clever lines of dialogue and a lot of well-worn tropes. Performances are often a bit wooden, but the camera is generally rock steady.

One problem is that financial audits, a significant element in the film, are simply not visually interesting. The Accountant made them more visual with Wolff (Ben Affleck) scrawling numbers all over the conference room windows. Lone Star made Sam's (Chris Cooper) research more interesting with cryptic notes about various people killed by Sheriff Wade (Kris Kristofferson). But this film takes a less creative approach.

The scene in Pulp Fiction in which Vincent Vega (John Travolta) injected heroin was visceral and a bit cringeworthy. A scene of drug use in Crypto shows how much talent it takes to film such a scene effectively.

The film is rated R, although it seems tame enough for primetime television. The violence is low-key. The one sex scene involves a woman wearing a brassiere that seems modest enough to wear at the beach without attracting notice.

Several scenes involving harvesting potatoes don't seem at all realistic, even to a city boy like myself. In one scene, Martin Senior (Kurt Russell) harrows a field which supposedly hasn't been harvested. He has a nice John Deere tractor, but can't afford even a simple potato harvester for a farm worth over a million dollars, which means it is probably over 400 acres. The potato stalks are missing. How they removed the stalks without harvesting the potatoes is the biggest mystery in the film. But three guys manage to harvest 400 acres of potatoes in an afternoon. The potatoes have no dirt clinging to them when they are harvested. It really looks as if somebody took a couple of sacks of potatoes and covered them with a little dirt in a freshly ploughed field. If harvesting potatoes is a significant plot element, producers really need to schedule production in the fall, rather than the spring.

Some of the minor roles are performed well and eclipse the major roles. Kudos to Jill Hennessy, Joseph Siprut, Malaya Rivera Drew (although major demerits for the bedroom scene), Marsha Dietlein, and Luke Hemsworth.

The film is watchable, but lends itself to multitasking. Without fight scenes (other than a television caliber shootout), chases, pyrotechnics or special effects, the film needs a strong script. This one seems a couple of re-writes short of completion.

Some movies go straight to DVD, while others go straight to the trash can. I think this is one of the latter...

Crypto fmovies. This movie was originally crowdfunded and I contributed thinking it would make for a better movie. I was wrong. Not only did they release it online and in theaters, but I have yet to receive my digital download. I rented a copy on Amazon...and regretted putting so much money into it, even the time that I spent talking to co-workers about it. The characters are ridiculous. Main character, he's either risk assessment or an internal auditor. Either way, they hire an internal auditor to 'look into the company'. This wouldn't happen, because the internal auditor would be a risk themselves. You would hire an external auditor. This main character. He only wears a suit. He doesn't have clothes to relax in at the end of the day. He doesn't even have clothes to farm in. Always wearing a suit. It's (sarcastic) because he works in the city, and that's how they dress. They made it seem like cryptocurrency is either for major corporations, thieves or guys in small towns that are strung out on something. Sure, perhaps some of the Russian mafia does use cryptocurrencies. They also use cash. Also, what's with making movies that are basically saying that Russia is our enemy? Isn't the cold war over? There's one point in the movie where they find a tongue that's been cut out. They assume it's from someone, but it wasn't. Then they never explain where it came from. Does the Russian mafia have a freezer full of tongues reserved for this occasion? Where is the supply coming from? About two hours of buzzwords and bank terms that don't go together later, I was done. It's been a few days and I can't stop thinking about how bad this was. They really should have done some consulting with people that actually know what they're talking about. Source: I work for a cryptocurrency exchange and came from a small industrial/farming town that is going under.

What a pathetically desperate propaganda piece. In due time this will be found at the bottom of a Walmart bin. I actually thought it was joke until it ended and nothing funny had happened. Russia, Russia, Russia....YAWN.

ICOs are represented as legitimate investment vehicles, which goes to show the idiots that wrote this script didn't do any research. The main actor isn't an actor, actually, anyone who hasn't suffered a stroke could act better.