Henry's Crime 2011

Working as a toll collector on a lonely highway in Buffalo, New York, Henry is a man seemingly without ambition, dreams or purpose; a man sleepwalking his way through life. His wife Debbie is not happy with the situation.

One morning Eddie, a friend, drops by to ask Henry to join a baseball game. As they drive to the game in Henry’s car, Eddie asks Henry to stop at an ATM. But Eddie, and two acquaintances also in the car, instead rob the Buffalo Savings Bank, and Henry is arrested as an accomplice.

Rather than give up the names of the culprits, Henry takes the fall and goes to jail. His cellmate is the irrepressible Max, a conman who has grown comfortable with the familiarity and security of his “idyllic” life behind bars, but who also helps plant an idea in Henry’s mind that will change his life: for a man to find his purpose, he must first have a dream. Debbie divorces Henry and marries Joe, one of the men who carried out the robbery.

Upon his release 18 months later, Henry finds his purpose. Having done his time, he decides he might as well do the crime. Discovering a long-forgotten bootlegger’s tunnel that runs from the bank to a theater across the alleyway, he convinces the reluctant Max to file for his long-overdue parole – to help stage a robbery of the bank.

Henry becomes an actor in the theater’s production of Anton Chekhov’s 1904 play The Cherry Orchard, while Max “volunteers” to work in the theater. Henry finds himself falling for the production’s mercurial leading lady, Julie.

Debbie’s husband Joe is recruited to help clear the tunnel of mud; he informs Eddie, who insists on participating. During the robbery, Eddie tries to take all the money himself, but is overpowered by Max and is left in the vault. As the three escape, Henry tells Joe to stop the car, wishes Max well, and returns to Julie.