Opening with a thrill that quickly intensifies, Criminal is not just about hunting a man, but also about finding humanity even in the worst of people. Whether that exploration involves science or not, this film takes you into a world of possibility.

Criminal revolves around an operation, which may bring chaos if gone wrong. It begins with the life of a lost agent, whose body is gone but memory recovered. For Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones) finding a human to finally experiment on was simple, Jericho. A man whose frontal lobe was never fully developed as a child, stealing him from the possibilities of love and a world of emotions most of us know too well. When handed over the memory of intelligent officer Bill Pope (played by Ryan Reynolds), Jericho does not begin a new life, but rather continues the operation that was left unfinished.

On becoming Jericho, a character not too familiar for Kevin Costner, director Ariel Vromen revealed it took some persuading to get Costner to take on the role. “He was smiling a lot when I pitched him the movie… he was like, ‘it’s not me’.” To convince him, “I told him that I feel that I can show a side of him that had never been exposed.” While Vromen admits he did think about staying dark in terms of story, Costner brought something he never considered initially, but admits it worked for the film. “My initial approach was to keep the movie more grounded and actually a little bit darker… Kevin actually really supported me. He came and spent some time with me and he brought back. He needed those things. I’ll give him the credit that those more humorous moments” were all Kevin. The director also commented on Tommy Lee Jones performance. He said, “Tommy Lee Jones was also playing against his strength. He played a weak guy. He physically acts different. Usually Tommy is much more present,” in terms of his physicality and choice of attitude as an actor. Vromen added with a smile, “He’s still very present when he’s off set. I can tell you that.”

While Jericho’s demeanor is dark and violent, Costner brought that unforced humor that added a lot more to the character. “Nothing in life suffers from a sense of humor,” said Costner. But approaching this criminal was a task difficult to grasp initially. “I will tell you honestly this is the first role I ever took on that I didn't know how I was gonna play it. I just didn't. I didn't know what his voice was gonna be. I knew he was in prison so I grew my hair long and I had my beard long, and then the first day I got there there was no rehearsal… So literally I went in and created the look by myself.” A look that with all his character choices becomes an experience not just for him as actor, but for the audience as well, making it what he calls a “good popcorn movie”.

On writing the story and the science behind it, writer David Weinberg (who co-wrote the film with the late Douglas Cook) talked about his familiarity with the pathology of the frontal lobe. “We’ve put this together with the fact that my dad when he was eighteen, when he was in Innsbruck in Austria and he fell down a mountain… He suffered severe frontal lobe injury and it affected him for the rest of his life.” Weinberg used this knowledge to create the character of Criminal. “We said, alright so if the person had frontal lobe damage as a child, then you would have basically a blank space in the brain to put this stuff. To recreate this neuronal math. So, we started there, and of course, it’s a Frankenstein movie.”  He elaborated, “The beauty for us is you have a guy, who for no fault of his own is violent and dangerous and absolutely the last guy you'd ever want and need to do anything and then you put this good person or these memories of this good person and their life in their brain. And so you can start violent and then through the family relationship create a catharsis and cheer for the character at the end. So, as a creative artistic act it’s got its own kind of beauty in the art. That’s what appealed to us.”

The film also stars Gary Oldman as Quaker Wells, Gal Gadot as Jill Pope, Alice Eve as Marta Lynch, Michael Pitt as The Dutchman, and Amaury Nolasco as Esteban Ruiza.

Criminal opens in theaters April 15th.