50 best crime movies

by Dimitris_69 | created - 10 Jun 2011 | updated - 17 Aug 2013 | Public

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1. Mystic River (2003)

R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

84 Metascore

The tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Emmy Rossum

Votes: 485,774 | Gross: $90.14M

2. Training Day (2001)

R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

71 Metascore

A rookie cop spends his first day as a Los Angeles narcotics officer with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.

Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger

Votes: 472,767 | Gross: $76.63M

3. Snatch (2000)

R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime

55 Metascore

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Jason Statham, Brad Pitt, Stephen Graham, Vinnie Jones

Votes: 910,674 | Gross: $30.33M

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

R | 154 min | Crime, Drama

95 Metascore

The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis

Votes: 2,219,596 | Gross: $107.93M

5. Scarface (1983)

R | 170 min | Crime, Drama

65 Metascore

In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Votes: 916,271 | Gross: $45.60M

6. Road to Perdition (2002)

R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

72 Metascore

A mob enforcer's son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.

Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman

Votes: 284,482 | Gross: $104.45M

7. Lawless (2012)

R | 116 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

58 Metascore

Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.

Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jason Clarke

Votes: 253,430 | Gross: $37.40M

8. American Gangster (2007)

R | 157 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

76 Metascore

An outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin

Votes: 452,449 | Gross: $130.16M

9. L.A. Confidential (1997)

R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

91 Metascore

As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.

Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger

Votes: 617,708 | Gross: $64.62M

10. Casino (1995)

R | 178 min | Crime, Drama

73 Metascore

In Las Vegas, two best friends - a casino executive and a mafia enforcer - compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods

Votes: 563,790 | Gross: $42.44M

11. Carlito's Way (1993)

R | 144 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

66 Metascore

A Puerto Rican former convict, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of N.Y.C.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo

Votes: 232,334 | Gross: $36.95M

12. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

R | 229 min | Crime, Drama

75 Metascore

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams

Votes: 377,635 | Gross: $5.32M

13. Blow (2001)

R | 124 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

52 Metascore

The story of how George Jung, along with the Medellín Cartel headed by Pablo Escobar, established the American cocaine market in the 1970s in the United States.

Director: Ted Demme | Stars: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Franka Potente, Rachel Griffiths

Votes: 275,016 | Gross: $52.99M

14. Serpico (1973)

R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

83 Metascore

An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire

Votes: 134,749 | Gross: $29.80M

15. Chinatown (1974)

R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

92 Metascore

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez

Votes: 349,767

16. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

86 Metascore

Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar

Votes: 273,014 | Gross: $50.00M

17. Donnie Brasco (1997)

R | 127 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

77 Metascore

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the Mafia life--at the expense of his regular one.

Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby

Votes: 332,166 | Gross: $41.91M

18. Goodfellas (1990)

R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

92 Metascore

The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco

Votes: 1,257,037 | Gross: $46.84M

19. The Usual Suspects (1995)

R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

76 Metascore

The sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.

Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin

Votes: 1,145,175 | Gross: $23.34M

20. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

R | 99 min | Crime, Thriller

81 Metascore

When a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.

Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn

Votes: 1,087,985 | Gross: $2.83M

21. Ocean's Eleven (2001)

PG-13 | 116 min | Crime, Thriller

74 Metascore

Danny Ocean and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon

Votes: 619,027 | Gross: $183.42M

22. Sleepers (1996)

R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

49 Metascore

After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric

Votes: 237,528 | Gross: $49.10M

23. The Bone Collector (1999)

R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

45 Metascore

A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.

Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker

Votes: 184,925 | Gross: $66.52M

24. Rising Sun (1993)

R | 129 min | Action, Crime, Drama

56 Metascore

When an escort girl is found dead in the offices of a Japanese company in Los Angeles, detectives Web Smith and John Connor act as liaison between the company's executives and the investigating cop Tom Graham.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Votes: 48,264 | Gross: $63.10M

25. Snake Eyes (1998)

R | 98 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

52 Metascore

A shady police detective finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy at an important boxing match in an Atlantic City casino.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino

Votes: 86,733 | Gross: $55.59M

26. Under Suspicion (2000)

R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

43 Metascore

A wealthy attorney in San Juan comes to the police station for "10 minutes" of follow-up questions to finding a 12-year-old girl's body in a park. Another young girl was also raped and murdered weeks earlier and the evidence points to him.

Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, Thomas Jane, Monica Bellucci

Votes: 27,616 | Gross: $0.26M

27. The Departed (2006)

R | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

85 Metascore

An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg

Votes: 1,421,967 | Gross: $132.38M

28. Inside Man (2006)

R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

76 Metascore

A police detective, a bank robber, and a high-power broker enter high-stakes negotiations after the criminal's brilliant heist spirals into a hostage situation.

Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer

Votes: 397,801 | Gross: $88.51M

29. Insomnia (2002)

R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

78 Metascore

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan

Votes: 319,068 | Gross: $67.36M

30. Don't Say a Word (2001)

R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

38 Metascore

When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he's horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman who knows a secret...

Director: Gary Fleder | Stars: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, Brittany Murphy, Skye McCole Bartusiak

Votes: 57,066 | Gross: $55.00M

31. Just Cause (1995)

R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama

48 Metascore

A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.

Director: Arne Glimcher | Stars: Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Capshaw, Blair Underwood

Votes: 29,479 | Gross: $36.85M

32. Out of Time (I) (2003)

PG-13 | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

63 Metascore

A Florida police chief must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion.

Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, Dean Cain

Votes: 65,648 | Gross: $41.09M

33. A Time to Kill (1996)

R | 149 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

53 Metascore

In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.

Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey

Votes: 181,611 | Gross: $108.77M

34. Sea of Love (1989)

R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

66 Metascore

A detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.

Director: Harold Becker | Stars: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker

Votes: 44,893 | Gross: $58.57M

35. Along Came a Spider (2001)

R | 104 min | Drama, Thriller

42 Metascore

When a senator's daughter under Secret Service protection is kidnapped from a private school, detective Alex Cross investigates the case even though he's recovering from the loss of his partner.

Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Michael Wincott, Monica Potter, Dylan Baker

Votes: 95,870 | Gross: $74.08M

36. The Pelican Brief (1993)

PG-13 | 141 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

51 Metascore

A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard

Votes: 95,957 | Gross: $100.77M

37. Traffic (2000)

R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

86 Metascore

A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas

Votes: 219,714 | Gross: $124.12M

38. The Town (2010)

R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

74 Metascore

A proficient group of thieves rob a bank and hold an assistant manager hostage. Things begin to get complicated when one of the crew members falls in love with her.

Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner

Votes: 415,657 | Gross: $92.19M

39. What Doesn't Kill You (2008)

R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

71 Metascore

Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.

Director: Brian Goodman | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Goodman, Amanda Peet

Votes: 13,228

40. The Iceman (2012)

R | 106 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

60 Metascore

The story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When he was finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor his daughters had any clue about his real profession.

Director: Ariel Vromen | Stars: Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, James Franco, Winona Ryder

Votes: 79,392 | Gross: $1.94M

41. Layer Cake (2004)

R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Drama

73 Metascore

A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.

Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Tom Hardy

Votes: 195,541 | Gross: $2.34M

42. Collateral (2004)

R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama

71 Metascore

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo

Votes: 433,024 | Gross: $101.01M

43. Zodiac (2007)

R | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

79 Metascore

Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards

Votes: 598,201 | Gross: $33.08M

44. Colors (1988)

R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama

66 Metascore

An experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.

Director: Dennis Hopper | Stars: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso, Randy Brooks

Votes: 29,818 | Gross: $46.62M

45. Desperate Hours (1990)

R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Drama

33 Metascore

An escaped con, on the run from the law, moves into a married couple's house and takes over their lives.

Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Anthony Hopkins, Mimi Rogers, Lindsay Crouse

Votes: 8,424 | Gross: $2.74M

46. The Pledge (I) (2001)

R | 124 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

71 Metascore

A retiring police detective pledges to catch the killer of a young child.

Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Benicio Del Toro, Patricia Clarkson, Beau Daniels

Votes: 67,694 | Gross: $19.72M

47. Cop Land (1997)

R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

64 Metascore

The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro

Votes: 106,350 | Gross: $44.89M

48. Hostage (2005)

R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama

44 Metascore

When a family is held hostage, former hostage negotiator Jeff Talley arrives at the scene. Talley's own family is kidnapped and Talley must decide which is more important: saving a family he doesn't even know or saving his own family.

Director: Florent-Emilio Siri | Stars: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Serena Scott Thomas, Jimmy Bennett

Votes: 113,536 | Gross: $34.64M

49. Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)

R | 93 min | Comedy, Crime

Brilliant, flamboyant master criminal Michael Lynch is more interested in his image and his posterity than the actual profit from his ill-gotten gains.

Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Mullan, Stephen Dillane

Votes: 14,374

50. Knockaround Guys (2001)

R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

30 Metascore

The wannabe sons of mobsters go to a remote town in the Midwest, and get themselves into more trouble than anyone could anticipate.

Directors: Brian Koppelman, David Levien | Stars: Jennifer Baxter, Dennis Hopper, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper

Votes: 24,865 | Gross: $11.63M



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