Points on november criminals
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A movie needs no ambition beyond the modest desire to occupy a viewer’s time. But in our spilling-over-with-content world, there are still movies that can make you wonder: Why does this film even exist? Take “November Criminals.” It’s a grade-Z teen homicide thriller that, judged solely by its IMDb page, has what you might almost call a pedigree.
The movie’s stars, Ansel Elgort and Chloë Grace Moretz, bring their puppyish glitter-kid sparkle to the role of high-school seniors who are boyfriend and girlfriend (but not really) in suburban Washington, D.C. The film also features David Strathairn and Catherine Keener as their respective single parents, and it was directed by Sacha Gervasi, the British crossover documentary maverick who made “Anvil: The Story of Anvil” (2009) and the factually fraudulent but still enjoyable making-of-“Psycho” docudrama “Hitchcock” (2012). It all sounds respectable enough, but “November Criminals,” which opened on VOD ahead of its nominal theatrical release next week, has the spirit of what used to be called a straight-to-tape thriller. The most pressing dramatic issue it raises is why you’re bothering to watch it.