Crime drama in which four students plan to steal valuable books from a library.
Running from entertaining to tense as hell, Layton’s docu-drama heist flick grapples with something that most capers can’t even begin to compute: consequences.
Directed with urgency but also an overriding sense of loss and folly, American Animals is an interesting paradox: a cautionary tale that easily disabuses us of the notion that there's glamour in criminality, while itself being a stylish beast.
A documentary about the fictions we tell ourselves, a fiction about the reality we can never escape.
If this is what Layton can pull from a bunch of knuckleheads, we can only imagine what he could do with a film about smarter people.
American Animals is sharp, smart, often bravura filmmaking, a terrifically entertaining mix of fast facts and pulp fiction. But beneath the flash is a sad story of teens who feel their lives simply aren’t good enough.
Bart Layton’s true-crime heist caper about an incompetent plan to steal valuable books from a college library is a triumph.
We root for them one moment and pity or despise them the next. Whether seen through the prism of documentary or of drama, though, their actions seem equally crazy and distorted.
A gripping and giggle-inducing yarn which if it were not for the severity of the crime and the trauma experienced by “B.J.” could almost be billed as a black comedy.
Engaging performances and strong direction prevent this docu-drama from misfiring.
Director Bart Layton on heist film American Animals
Bart Layton: 'By the time I made contact with the real guys, they were in prison'.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday October 19, 2018, until Thursday October 25, 2018. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
RSS feed of Cinema reviews