Genres
Action, Crime, Thriller
Director
Sarik Andreasyan
Country
USA
Cast
Hayden Christensen, Adrien Brody, Jordana Brewster, Akon, Tory Kittles, Rachel Bilson
Storyline
James (Hayden Christensen) owes his life to his brother Frankie (Adrien Brody) after taking the rap for a crime they committed together. When Frankie asks him for help to rob a bank, he has no choice but help him.
Opinion
As the ending credits were rolling, I was trying to figure out why on Earth they would name this film American Heist. It just didn't make any sense. It's only now, a few days later, that it's finally making sense. This is the typical Hollywood bullshit, so I guess the fact that they tricked me and many others to watch it qualifies as an American heist.
The storyline isn't particularly appealing so it didn't come as a surprise that the final result wasn't appealing either. The plot barely has something resembling development, it's incredibly boring, it doesn't have any interesting twist and it has nothing to do with a heist (unless you consider a bank robbery gone bad a heist. That's not a heist if you ask me).
Anyway, if anything, it is a melodramatic soap opera about the troubled but never dramatic relationship between two brothers, James and Frankie, 'enhanced' by one of those pathetic and pointless romantic sub-plots Hollywood doesn't seem to be able to live without and whose only purpose is to have a gorgeous woman in the film.
The characters, however, are even worse than the story. Christensen's is one of the most uninteresting characters I've seen recently and there's nothing he can do to help. He's not like the best actor ever, after all. On the other hand, there's Adrien Brody, playing Christensen's brother. He really puts some efforts into the role and that results in a fine performance from him. Unfortunately, his character is barely developed and all of his efforts to deliver an emotional and heartbreaking scene are completely vain.
The direction also leaves a lot to be desired, from the almost inexistent action that obviously fails to deliver tension, to the terrible soundtrack that makes American Heist just a little bit more ridiculous if you consider some of the tracks are from one of the members of the cast, Akon.
The storyline isn't particularly appealing so it didn't come as a surprise that the final result wasn't appealing either. The plot barely has something resembling development, it's incredibly boring, it doesn't have any interesting twist and it has nothing to do with a heist (unless you consider a bank robbery gone bad a heist. That's not a heist if you ask me).
The characters, however, are even worse than the story. Christensen's is one of the most uninteresting characters I've seen recently and there's nothing he can do to help. He's not like the best actor ever, after all. On the other hand, there's Adrien Brody, playing Christensen's brother. He really puts some efforts into the role and that results in a fine performance from him. Unfortunately, his character is barely developed and all of his efforts to deliver an emotional and heartbreaking scene are completely vain.
The direction also leaves a lot to be desired, from the almost inexistent action that obviously fails to deliver tension, to the terrible soundtrack that makes American Heist just a little bit more ridiculous if you consider some of the tracks are from one of the members of the cast, Akon.
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