I remember when I was in high school and I saw Michael Mann’s Heat. It was gripping, engaging, and unlike anything I’d ever seen. I tend to measure stories of this ilk against that one, and many audiences do, too. It also inspired a love of Los Angeles crime stories.

That’s why it makes sense that we’re getting Crime 101, a slick heist drama set in Los Angeles and featuring a great cast. The film is based on the novel from Don Winslow and is adapted by writer/director Bart Layton. It also features a great trio of characters—a buttoned up master thief who’s lonely, a broken-down detective who is great at putting together the pieces, and a woman who is overlooked by those in her sphere.

At the outset, we meet Mike (Chris Hemsworth), an expert at his craft. That craft is planning and executing a series of high-profile robberies near Highway 101. As we drop in, he’s executing his latest heist. But something goes slightly awry, and it leaves him feeling vulnerable.

When Mike meets with his handler (Nick Nolte), he expresses reservations about an upcoming job in Santa Barbara. He wants to pursue something new. So, his handler recruits a reckless but effective new player (Barry Keoghan). When the job doesn’t go off clean, Mike is angry. The rift with his handler causes a split, leading him to put his recruit on Mike’s trail to rip of his next big score.

Mike’s proficiency, meanwhile, has drawn the eye of Detective Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo). He’s been on the job a long time, and he’s a good at putting the pieces together, but it doesn’t win him many friends. When he suspects a series of heists are all coming from the same person, it rankles his bosses. They want him to close cases, but he wants the truth.

Mike, meanwhile, sets his sights on Sharon (Halle Berry). She’s a senior insurance agent for high-end clients, but she’s been frustrated in her job. Mike pitches her a way to get even by trading information. That leads to a potentially life-changing score. But can Mike dodge the heat from the LAPD and his own jilted former associate?

This film does a nice job of capturing Los Angeles—and much of California. Layton has a feel for the world and the story. But at times he tries things with the camera that don’t always yield positive results. Some of the shot choices felt showy at times, taking me out of the narrative.

But it’s the narrative that works. I was bought into the characters and the plot. The film takes its time to build the world and it sucks you in. I like that we have time to see the full picture of our three main characters, and to build the conflict at a slow boil. That ramps up the tension so that, by the time we reach the conclusion, you’re waiting to see how it’s all going to pop off.

Let’s talk ending for a minute. I don’t want to spoil things, but I liked the way this one resolved. Often in these stories we have binaries—someone wins, and someone loses. This film finds a way to offer a different kind of twist. Is it perfect? No, but it was satisfying and felt like something different.

I also enjoy the characters and performances. Hemsworth does a nice job in the lead. I like the exploration of Mike and pulling him out of his comfort zone. His back-and-forth with love interest Maya, played by Monica Barbaro, is interesting, too. I liked the depth of their interactions and the arc of the story.

Berry does a nice job playing a woman whose anger is bubbling under the surface. When she finally boils over, it’s a commanding sequence and quite satisfying. I also enjoyed Ruffalo as the rumpled detective. His arc goes in a way I didn’t quite expect, but he plays it beautifully. By the time we get our face-to-face, it’s all you could hope for in the exchange.

Crime 101 is a solid heist thriller. It has a strong cast, a good story, and solid execution. It’s not an all-time example of the form, but it’s well worth seeking out and should provide plenty of entertainment value.

Crime 101 opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.

Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.