American Animals (2018)

87%
American Animals - Bart Layton
Drama/Mystery & Suspense - R - 2018

“Once you cross that line, you can never go back.”

A unique viewing experience, American Animals blends fact with fiction to create a nail-biting heist film. The crazy (true) story revolves around two young men – Spencer and Warren – who lead pretty average existences. They go to school, smoke weed, and dream of better lives. They bond over the haunting fear of never becoming “truly” special, until one day when Spencer’s class is shown a rare collection of art in his school’s library. The collection, worth more than $14 million, seems to be their ticket out of this boring little Kentucky town.

I always enjoy a movie that can make me feel uneasy at times, and there were definitely some tense moments in this one. The movie is essentially like any “true story” documentary, but with a Hollywood spin. Spencer and Warren - played by Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters, respectively – were both very well cast, in my opinion. Throughout the film, they show testimonials from the actual guys involved in the heist plot, and I can definitely see a lot of parallels between the real-life Spencer and Warren and the actors that portrayed them. Evan Peters does a fantastic job in recreating Warren’s personality as the kind of rebellious, me-against-the-world friend, while Keoghan superbly portrays Spencer – the typically quiet, moral kid.

I liked this movie because it was pretty relatable in an obscure way (no, I am not dumb enough to plan a $14 million heist), but I definitely did some dumb shit in college. I’m sure a lot of us have, at one time, been coerced by friends into doing something nonsensical. Having found myself in some situations I’d never thought I’d be in, I felt somewhat of a connection with Spencer as he told his story. Overall, American Animals is a unique heist movie that offers true insight into the minds of the characters and tells a pretty outrageous story.