'American Animals' A Review

American Animals is a heist docu-drama about two angsty college students in Lexington, KY who hatch a plan to steal rare books from a collegiate library. The film cuts back and forth from real life interviews from those involved to a fictional depictions of the events. Spencer(Barry Keoghan) is an aspiring artist in search of a real world experience to help propel his creativity. His best friend Warren(Evan Peters) is the Dean Moriarty stand in, energetic and impulsive. The two loop in Eric(Jared Abrahamson) an accounting student and Chas(Blake Jenner) an entrepreneurial rich kid to round out their crew.

The casting is pitch perfect and brings a weight and emotional resonance to the somewhat immature existential crisis which seemingly propels the various burgeoning adults motivations. Keoghan proves again(in the wake of Dunkirk and his incredible turn in The Killing Of A Sacred Deer) that he is one of the most talented dynamic actors of his generation, providing subtlety and depth of pathos surprising for his age. Peters who has demonstrated massive ability in his television work and in his scene stealing turns in the X-Men series is finally given a realistic dynamic character to play. Abrahamson(from the underrated TV series Travelers), in a smaller role, gives the quartet a much needed stolidness and morality. Jenner in the least developed role provides a frenetic aggression which balances out the foursome. The performances from the four leads are all surprisingly assured, they have a wonderful chemistry, and they impart a gentle dignity to a situation that could(with a different angle) lurch into the territory of broad comedy.

The one fault of the film is its pacing, it's probably fifteen minutes too long with a false finish about three quarters of the way into the run time. The cinematography is innovative and vital cutting between the real life participants, the actors, sometimes having them interact with each other, and the recurring motif of birds and wildlife with a thumping dread-inducing score.

Significant craft paired with confident performances make for an unexpected treat.

See It.