Top 10 Best Crime Movie Couples

“Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005)

Even forgetting all the behind the scenes drama that came with it, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” caused a splash in the crime couple cinema world. The movie wasn’t a huge hit among critics, but that box office doesn’t lie. Audiences were loving the chemistry between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The pair stars as a married couple who lead secret lives as assassins, each working for different firms. To their surprise, their next assignment ends up being to kill one another. What follows is two hours of gun-packed foreplay and flirtation. What more could we ask for?

“Natural Born Killers” (1994)

In “Natural Born Killers,” satire and style come together to create a truly singular cinematic experience. Still, the film would be nothing without the chemistry between stars Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. The actors play Mickey and Mallory Knox, a married couple of mass murderers who become sensationalized for their violent acts of terror. We wouldn’t say that the Knoxes’ relationship is … a healthy one per say. But their toxicity and violent tendencies make for a car crash of a romance that you can’t help but rubberneck over. These two go balls to the wall in everything, including life and death.

“True Romance” (1993)

One of the best types of crime couples is the lovable fools who probably shouldn’t have gotten mixed up in all this in the first place. That’s the type of couple that Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman are in Tony Scott’s “True Romance.” Everything about Clarence and Alabama is a bit of an accident. They accidentally fall in love, accidentally find themselves wrapped up in a murder, and then accidentally steal a bunch of an illegal substance that someone else stole from the mob. This series of accidents sends them on a whirlwind run for their lives, but all that danger doesn’t stop them from falling deeper in love.

“Out of Sight” (1998)

We’ve thought about this a lot, but there aren’t many cinematic couples we can think of who have the type of sizzling chemistry that George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez have in this movie. “Out of Sight” coasts on the pair’s magnetism as they bring it to life. Clooney plays Jack Foley, a bank robber who ends up kidnapping Lopez’s U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco during a prison break. There’s no love lost between the two at first, but their game of cat and mouse slowly draws the two together until they can’t hold themselves back. Truly, the raw attraction between Lopez and Clooney in this movie gives us heart palpitations.

“Raising Arizona” (1987)

No one else could make kidnapping a baby seem so wholesome. Hi and Ed McDunnough don’t make much sense on paper. He’s an ex-convict, she’s an ex-police officer. But at the beginning of “Raising Arizona,” the two start a life of wedded bliss. There’s just one thing missing, and that’s a child. Unfortunately, the two can’t have a kid on their own, so they resort to the next best thing; kidnapping. After the duo kidnaps a baby from a set of recently born quintuplets, they spend the course of the film learning about love and parenthood – of course, with a healthy dose of hijinks and retribution thrown in for good measure.

“Badlands” (1973)

This crime couple is loosely based on a real life story, but director Terrence Malick takes that nugget of truth and creates an American classic. “Badlands” stars Sissy Spacek as 15-year-old Holly Sargis, a young girl with a troubled homelife. When she meets 25-year-old Kit Carruthers, played by Martin Sheen, his tendency for violence burrows its way into her life. After Kit kills Holly’s father, the two fake their own deaths and run away together. As they engage in more crime, their tirade turns into a desperate chase to get away from law enforcement, and their relationship slowly starts to dissolve, the reality of what they’ve done sinking in.

“Goodfellas” (1990)

Started from the bottom, now we’re here … and then back to the bottom again. Karen Friedman meets Henry Hill when he’s just a lowly gangster, but as “Goodfellas” progresses, so does the arc and ultimate tragedy of their relationship. Karen doesn’t approve of Henry’s involvement with the Mafia, but she’s ultimately just as seduced by the money and glamor as he is. As Henry loses his standing in the family, their relationship starts to deteriorate and Karen sees her own position sinking. While Karen isn’t nearly as deep in as Henry is, she’s still drawn to crime for many of the same reasons. They’re a match made in lawbreaking heaven.

“Casino” (1995)

If there’s anyone who can go toe-to-toe with Robert De Niro when it comes to turning it up to ten, it’s Sharon Stone. When it comes to the structure of “Casino,” it’s a lot like “Goodfellas,” following the rise and fall of a crime mogul. But the central couple, in this case De Niro and Stone, is very different. Ginger McKenna, Mafia man Ace Rothstein’s eventual wife, feels more involved in the main plot of the film. When you put them in a room together, you better believe it’ll explode in one way or another. Stone and De Niro almost play an acting game of chicken with each other on screen. You never know who’s going to back down first.

“Heathers” (1989)

Time to let the teens have a say. Over the years, “Heathers” has become one of the cultiest cult classics out there. And a lot of that fervor has to do with the almost feral relationship between Veronica Sawyer and Jason Dean. Now, J.D. is definitely the ring leader out of this duo when it comes to murder. But it did take Veronica three dead bodies to break up with him, so she’s not getting the pass that easy. Veronica does ultimately take things into her own hands, resulting in a final stand off between her and J.D. that’s gone down in cinematic history.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Spouses Who Kill Together, Stay Together

One of the Hottest Noir Couples in the History of the Genre

Screwball Crime Is Still Crime

Lovers on the Run

Bank Robbing Never Looked So Good

“Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)

The crime couple who all other crime couples aspire to, there’s just something about Bonnie and Clyde. Their legend has lived on in the American consciousness for decades. And, with 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde,” it was cemented in the cinematic one as well. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway star as the titular duo, cultivating their image as one of the hottest couples ever… you know, if you’re into breaking the law. Director Arthur Penn commits their robberies and getaways to screen in a way that definitely glorifies the couple. They’re beautiful and dangerous, a couple of all-American mavericks on the run.