It’s an intrinsically American thing, the feeling of wanting to leave behind some sort of legacy after we’re gone.
To the impressionable young person, it’s a pressure that can drive them to the most extreme of actions. Sure, one can strive to leave behind their own legacy through hard work. But if one were smart enough – or just young and foolish enough – couldn’t one also just steal it?
This impressionable young-person-sets-out-to-steal-greatness is the story of American Animals (now available to watch digitally and On Demand), an enthralling and electrifying film that derives its plot from true events. Based on the real-life story of a group of friends who, feeling the monotony and complacency of their small-town Kentucky undergraduate lives, devise a plan to steal some of the rarest artifacts of this country’s history. Complete with costumes, makeup, and prosthetics, the boys- Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan), Warren Lipka (Evan Peters), Eric Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner)- make American Animals one of the most stylish films to come out this year.
Think ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ meets ‘The Social Network.’
American Animals is a unique viewing experience for the different genres that it brings together, which I was certainly not expecting. It’s a devilishly fun heist movie, bringing the most heart-pounding and suspenseful sequences when it needs to. But it’s clear that Animals‘ writer and director Bart Layton is interested in exploring the psychology of young person’s head, specifically the question of: what would make these misguided and impressionable people go through with a plan like this? Think Ocean’s Eleven meets The Social Network.
The stylistic hybrid filmmaking comes into play with Layton’s inclusion of interviews from the real-life heisters themselves. As they comment on what was going on in their heads, the film cuts between the narrative of the friends planning, performing, and living with the consequences of their heist. These stylistic touches won’t be too surprising if you’ve seen Layton’s previous work, the critically-acclaimed documentary The Imposter, in which Layton brought the story of a real-life identity-assuming person to the big screen with cinematic flair.
To this end, American Animals also brings forward larger and more conceptual ideas that Layton is concerned with: authenticity, deception, perception, and memory. These themes are all explored with editing and story tricks – for example, the real-life characters will walk into frame as one of the background actors. Plus, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it editing puts the viewer into off-ground, which is a fun place to be in the hands of Layton, who very clearly enjoys throwing the audience off the trail.
If you’re looking for a film that will offer some of the most visually and narratively interesting ideas of this year, look no further than American Animals.
116 min. ‘American Animals’ is rated R for language throughout, some drug use and brief crude/sexual material. Available to rent on Amazon, iTunes, and YouTube Movies.
