In general, heist movies are about one of two things. 1) Really smart, larger than live characters just owning the heist with perfectly executed precision (Ocean’s 8), or 2) smart people who happen to make one bad decision that causes the heist to go bad (Hell or High Water). Not very often do we see dumb, overconfident people trying to execute a heist and almost immediately botching it (the most recent I can think of is I, Tonya). American Animals falls in that third category, but along the way, finds something deeper to say as well about fantasy vs. reality and privileged malaise.
The heist in question here is some multi-million dollar copies of books at Transylvania University (a real place). Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan) sees the books on a tour of the Special Collections section of the library, and tells his, um, rebellious buddy Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) about them. Warren sees in the books not only a fast lane to cash and money, but a chance to do something really extraordinary in his life. So Spencer and Warren go to “great lengths” to plan out their heist which they learn about by Googling “how to execute a heist” and drawing out a sketch model of the building, and even meeting shady buyers in New York and the Netherlands. In their planning, they realize that the job is really a 4 man job, so they rope in two other loner friends. Eric Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) wanted to be in the FBI so he helped with some of the security measures the team needed to consider, and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner) is their getaway driver. The group thinks their plan is foolproof except for one little detail: they keep insisting someone will “take care of” the librarian, Betty Jean Gooch (Ann Dowd), without fully realizing what that actually means.
American Animals employs a strategy I don’t know if I’ve ever seen in a feature film: making a large chunk of the film also a documentary. Writer/Director Bart Layton comes from a documentary background, so he weaves in real life testimony from the four actual boys (now men), Spencer, Warren, Eric, and Chas, basically turning American Animals into a documentary with a dramatic reenactment. This technique works better than it sounds, with the real life men providing the actual context for the boy’s actions and decision making. Layton has the boys have conflicting details in the setup of the story, making it clear to audience early on that we might have some not only unreliable but dumb narrators planning a doomed heist by watching movies of heists. In addition, we see that projections of confidence drown out logical decision making for all these guys which the talking heads help clarify. Layton also keeps us in the dark with no talking head from the librarian, who we have no idea if she survives or dies during this “plan,” really amping up the tension. The greatest gift the talking heads give the story is humanity: the boys could easily be painted as idiotic bratty monsters, but seeing and hearing the sometimes joy but also regret and sorrow in many of their voices makes you realize that yes they’re dumb, but they’re not evil, putting even more real emotion in the actual execution of the heist.
The movie’s success hinges on those 4 real life men and the actors playing them, and fortunately, American Animals delivers on both counts. The 4 real boys are all completely different with different motivations: the real life Warren has an infectious charisma that you can see would attract everyone else to the heist (even though he insists he is NOT the ring leader). The 4 actors are also up to the task. Barry Keoghan takes his terrifying turn in Killing of a Sacred Deer and just removes the scary part, making him a simple artist who wants to be someone or do something special, but lacks the balls to do it. Evan Peters is the star here as Warren; he waltzes into the heist determined to personally make it succeed because he also feels he’s destined for greatness, and this will be his moment. Peters uses that charm to wash away and eliminate doubt from his compatriots, but when the stakes are highest, all that bravado is washed away because of how far Warren has to go to make the heist succeed, and Peters sells all that fear and terror mixed with humiliation quite well. Newcomer Jared Abrahamson gives Eric probably more smarts than the other 3, but is driven by a desire for friendship since he is alone most of the movie. And Blake Jenner’s Chas has that jockish bravado that makes him at least a little scary that he might be the team’s loose cannon and hurt someone out of rage. The 4 bounce off each other really well, creating a fun chemistry surrounded by idiocy and false confidence.
What happens when you think you’re destined for greatness, but have no patience to achieve it? American Animals is one possible scenario: a powerful lesson about how desire for connections and perceived determination can result in abhorrent behavior. Another important lesson? Just leave the librarians alone…they’re good people who like to read books! Just let them be, and watch a heist movie instead of trying to be in one.