Crime of the Century: Leopold & Loeb - A Plan in Action
Genre: Crime
Director: Bennett Miller
Writer: Lon Charles
Cast: Alex Wolff, Nick Robinson, Joseph Fiennes, Gabriel Bateman, Paul Sparks, Kristin Lehman and David Arquette
Plot: 1958. The older Nathan Leopold (Joseph Fiennes) gathers his belonging from his prison cell at the Stateville Penitentiary. The guards escort him to the prison's outer gates where a bus is waiting to take him away from the prison. Several reporters and photographers are waiting at the gates to try to secure an interview with Leopold. He walks past them all, trying to ignore their presence. Leopold boards the bus and slumps down in his seat, trying to avoid being seen. The driver asks him if he's some kind of a celebrity, but Leopold tells him that he just wants to get away from the commotion of it all.
1924. Richard Loeb (Nick Robinson) meets Nathan Leopold (Alex Wolff) on the campus of the University of Chicago and tells him that he's ready to step things up a notch and really prove they're supermen. They sit down on an empty park bench and Loeb tells him that he has the whole thing planned out. Leopold is annoyed that Loeb only comes around when he wants something and hasn't come around for a while, but agrees to hear Loeb out. Loeb says he wants to do the plan they previously talked about: kidnapping and murdering a child, making it look like a hostage situation gone wrong. Leopold reminds Loeb that it was his idea to ask for a ransom to throw the cops off the real motive of the crime. Loeb asks Leopold if he's ready to get to work, and Leopold nods his head. They decide on asking for a $10,000 ransom from the parents of the kid they kidnap, meaning they'll have to kidnap a kid from a wealthy neighborhood. Loeb asks how they should set about trying to collect the ransom, and Leopold says they could tell the kid's father to throw the money from a train, pick it up in a car and escape with the cash.
Leopold and Loeb drive around the affluent Kenwood neighborhood looking for potential victims. Leopold drives the car while Loeb tries to convince several different kids to enter the car to no avail. Loeb gets frustrated and tells Leopold to go ahead and start driving away, they'll have to try again some other day. As Leopold starts driving away, Loeb suddenly sees Bobby Franks (Gabriel Bateman), his second cousin, walking on the opposite side of the road. Loeb tells Leopold that Bobby's father is a wealthy businessman who will definitely be able to afford the ransom they'll demand. Loeb tells Leopold to turn the car around and pull up next to Bobby. As Leopold pulls the car up next to Bobby, Loeb sticks his head out the window and shouts out for Bobby's attention. Bobby looks over, and Loeb offers him a ride home. Bobby turns it down, saying he's just a few blocks from home so there'd be no point in a ride. Loeb, remembering that Bobby is a tennis player, tells him that he wants to talk about tennis rackets because he wants to get one for his brother as a present. Bobby shrugs his shoulders and gets into the front passenger seat.
Once he's inside the vehicle, Loeb asks Bobby if he knows Leopold. Bobby shakes his head and says he doesn't recognize him. Bobby turns to face Loeb and begins talking about a tennis match he had the day before. Loeb smiles and banters back and forth with his distant relative. While keeping his eyes on Bobby, Loeb begins feeling around the seat next to him trying to find a chisel he had brought along. Loeb finally finds the chisel and grabs it and waits for Bobby to look away. Leopold turns down a side street, and Bobby faces the front of the car. Loeb reaches over the seat and grabs Bobby from behind and covers his mouth. With his free hand, Loeb begins smashing the back of Bobby's head with with the chisel. Bobby twists around to protect himself from the blows. Loeb starts hitting Bobby in the forehead with the chisel. All the while, Leopold continues to slowly drive down a deserted alleyway. Bobby begins bleeding profusely from his forehead. The blood goes everywhere, spreading across the seat of the rental car, splashing on Leopold, and spilling onto the floor. Loeb expresses frustration that somehow Bobby is still conscious despite the repeated blows to the head with a chisel. Loeb grabs a rag and shoves it down Bobby's throat. He then tapes the boy's mouth shut. Bobby begins to suffocate on the rag, and finally his moans and cries stop, much to the relief of Leopold and Loeb.
Leopold drives the car to a culvert in a remote area several miles south of Chicago. Leopold and Loeb lift the body of Bobby Franks out of the car and ditch it in the culvert. Unbeknownst to Leopold, his glasses fall out of his pocket as they carry the body, falling into a mud puddle near the body. Leopold and Loeb take cleaning supplies out of the trunk of the car and begin cleaning the blood out of the rental car. Once they are satisfied with the cleanliness of the car, the two young men get back inside and drive back to the city. Leopold pulls the car over next to a post box. Loeb addresses the ransom note to Bobby's parents and drops it in the post box. They return the rental car and go lay low at Loeb's house.
The next morning, Bobby's parents Jacob Franks (Paul Sparks) and Maria Franks (Kristin Lehman) open their mail and discover the ransom note. They immediately call the police, and not long later Detective Gortland (David Arquette) arrives at their house. They are panicking and tell the detective that they thought Bobby told them he was staying the night at the house of a tennis teammate, but now they aren't so sure if that was yesterday or if Bobby was asking for today. Gortland is understandably a little frustrated with the family's lack of information regarding their son's disappearance, but he assures them he will do everything in his power to make sure their son is recovered and his kidnappers are brought to justice. Gortland asks Jacob Franks if he has the amount of money requested. Jacob says he does, but that he doesn't understand why he'd need it if the police are involved. Gortland explains that they will try to arrest the culprits as they attempt to recover the ransom from the drop site, but that just in case the criminals manage to get away they prefer that the drop involve real money so that the kidnappers don't kill their hostage. He tells the Franks that if they put fake money in the bag and the kidnappers manage to get away with it, they are almost certain to kill their hostage out of anger. Maria is crying uncontrollably at the thought and orders her husband to get the money together. Jacob sighs and gets on the phone with his bankers.
1924. Richard Loeb (Nick Robinson) meets Nathan Leopold (Alex Wolff) on the campus of the University of Chicago and tells him that he's ready to step things up a notch and really prove they're supermen. They sit down on an empty park bench and Loeb tells him that he has the whole thing planned out. Leopold is annoyed that Loeb only comes around when he wants something and hasn't come around for a while, but agrees to hear Loeb out. Loeb says he wants to do the plan they previously talked about: kidnapping and murdering a child, making it look like a hostage situation gone wrong. Leopold reminds Loeb that it was his idea to ask for a ransom to throw the cops off the real motive of the crime. Loeb asks Leopold if he's ready to get to work, and Leopold nods his head. They decide on asking for a $10,000 ransom from the parents of the kid they kidnap, meaning they'll have to kidnap a kid from a wealthy neighborhood. Loeb asks how they should set about trying to collect the ransom, and Leopold says they could tell the kid's father to throw the money from a train, pick it up in a car and escape with the cash.
Leopold and Loeb drive around the affluent Kenwood neighborhood looking for potential victims. Leopold drives the car while Loeb tries to convince several different kids to enter the car to no avail. Loeb gets frustrated and tells Leopold to go ahead and start driving away, they'll have to try again some other day. As Leopold starts driving away, Loeb suddenly sees Bobby Franks (Gabriel Bateman), his second cousin, walking on the opposite side of the road. Loeb tells Leopold that Bobby's father is a wealthy businessman who will definitely be able to afford the ransom they'll demand. Loeb tells Leopold to turn the car around and pull up next to Bobby. As Leopold pulls the car up next to Bobby, Loeb sticks his head out the window and shouts out for Bobby's attention. Bobby looks over, and Loeb offers him a ride home. Bobby turns it down, saying he's just a few blocks from home so there'd be no point in a ride. Loeb, remembering that Bobby is a tennis player, tells him that he wants to talk about tennis rackets because he wants to get one for his brother as a present. Bobby shrugs his shoulders and gets into the front passenger seat.
Once he's inside the vehicle, Loeb asks Bobby if he knows Leopold. Bobby shakes his head and says he doesn't recognize him. Bobby turns to face Loeb and begins talking about a tennis match he had the day before. Loeb smiles and banters back and forth with his distant relative. While keeping his eyes on Bobby, Loeb begins feeling around the seat next to him trying to find a chisel he had brought along. Loeb finally finds the chisel and grabs it and waits for Bobby to look away. Leopold turns down a side street, and Bobby faces the front of the car. Loeb reaches over the seat and grabs Bobby from behind and covers his mouth. With his free hand, Loeb begins smashing the back of Bobby's head with with the chisel. Bobby twists around to protect himself from the blows. Loeb starts hitting Bobby in the forehead with the chisel. All the while, Leopold continues to slowly drive down a deserted alleyway. Bobby begins bleeding profusely from his forehead. The blood goes everywhere, spreading across the seat of the rental car, splashing on Leopold, and spilling onto the floor. Loeb expresses frustration that somehow Bobby is still conscious despite the repeated blows to the head with a chisel. Loeb grabs a rag and shoves it down Bobby's throat. He then tapes the boy's mouth shut. Bobby begins to suffocate on the rag, and finally his moans and cries stop, much to the relief of Leopold and Loeb.
Leopold drives the car to a culvert in a remote area several miles south of Chicago. Leopold and Loeb lift the body of Bobby Franks out of the car and ditch it in the culvert. Unbeknownst to Leopold, his glasses fall out of his pocket as they carry the body, falling into a mud puddle near the body. Leopold and Loeb take cleaning supplies out of the trunk of the car and begin cleaning the blood out of the rental car. Once they are satisfied with the cleanliness of the car, the two young men get back inside and drive back to the city. Leopold pulls the car over next to a post box. Loeb addresses the ransom note to Bobby's parents and drops it in the post box. They return the rental car and go lay low at Loeb's house.
The next morning, Bobby's parents Jacob Franks (Paul Sparks) and Maria Franks (Kristin Lehman) open their mail and discover the ransom note. They immediately call the police, and not long later Detective Gortland (David Arquette) arrives at their house. They are panicking and tell the detective that they thought Bobby told them he was staying the night at the house of a tennis teammate, but now they aren't so sure if that was yesterday or if Bobby was asking for today. Gortland is understandably a little frustrated with the family's lack of information regarding their son's disappearance, but he assures them he will do everything in his power to make sure their son is recovered and his kidnappers are brought to justice. Gortland asks Jacob Franks if he has the amount of money requested. Jacob says he does, but that he doesn't understand why he'd need it if the police are involved. Gortland explains that they will try to arrest the culprits as they attempt to recover the ransom from the drop site, but that just in case the criminals manage to get away they prefer that the drop involve real money so that the kidnappers don't kill their hostage. He tells the Franks that if they put fake money in the bag and the kidnappers manage to get away with it, they are almost certain to kill their hostage out of anger. Maria is crying uncontrollably at the thought and orders her husband to get the money together. Jacob sighs and gets on the phone with his bankers.
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