Varun Patel
Heist movies have proven to be one of the most engaging genres of action stories. These films often carry the potential for witty action-filled tales. The fact that the genre’s popularity hasn’t died down despite a large number of productions that can be classified into that category is the most convincing proof of their appeal. ‘The Last Days of American Crime‘ is a Netflix original that takes the appeal of the heist movie and combines it with a dystopian, lo-fi science-fiction premise.
In the movie’s speculative universe, the United States government is all set to launch a signal that would make it impossible for people to commit any crimes. Hence, the police force would be disbanded as a result of that. A criminal named Bricke is approached by a couple (Kevin Cash and Shelby Dupree) for an epic heist on the night of the signal’s broadcast. Their plan involves delaying the signal’s launch by half an hour using a honey trap. Within that window, the criminals plan on stealing a large sum of money from the city’s mint and then escaping to Canada.
Is The Last Days of American Crime Based on a True Story?
A few viewers might have wondered whether ‘The Last Days of American Crime’ is based on, or inspired by true incidents. The character of Graham Bricke is depicted to be a rather prominent criminal. That might have led some to wonder whether his character has been inspired by that of an actual criminal.
To begin with, ‘The Last Days of American Crime’ is not based on a true story. It sports a rather a dystopian premise after all. There hasn’t been a single incident involving a signal that could interfere with people’s minds to stop them from doing anything illegal. That is purely science-fiction. Moreover, even if there was such a signal, it would be highly controversial to broadcast it as a government measure since it would curb freedom.
Moving on, the character of Graham Bricke is fictional too. There aren’t really any parallels between him and another criminal. The character is not depicted to be having a very specific or unique story, either.
‘The Last Days of American Crime’ is actually based on a graphic novel of the same name. The graphic novel is written by Rick Remender and has been illustrated by Greg Tocchini. The graphic novel was compiled in 2011 by merging a trilogy of comics released between 2009 and 2010. Remender has worked on a large number of comics and graphic novels. Some of his other works include ‘Uncanny Avengers,’ ‘Captain America,’ and multiple others. Moreover, he is also the showrunner and lead writer of ‘Deadly Class.‘ Apart from that, he has also worked on a couple of video games: ‘Deadspace’ and ‘Bulletstorm.’
The Netflix movie is a little different from the original graphic novel. In Remender’s work, the government does not want the public to know about the broadcast of the signal. As a distraction, the government launches a completely revamped digital currency system. Graham Bricke, in the graphic novel, aims to steal one of the digital currency card’s charging stations so that he could have an unlimited supply of money. In the Netflix film, Bricke, and co. steal a large sum of money.
Read More: The Last Days in American Crime Review
