by Frank Calvillo
Most often, films which have been released straight onto DVD have been branded as hollow, bland, and usually lacking in the kind of energy and substance which make most other high profile films worthy of reaching a wider audience. Not only is American Heist undeserving of of such a large scale debut, but this is just the kind of film that gives straight to DVD a bad name.
Set in New Orleans, American Heist centers on a pair of brothers named James (Hayden Christensen) and Frankie (Adrien Brody) with a rocky past. Years earlier, the two brothers committed a robbery, which left Frankie serving time in prison as a result of taking the rap for James. In the years since, James has cleaned up his act and even started his own business. When Frankie is released from prison however, it isn’t long before the two brothers are thrust back into the very same crime world that destroyed them in the first place.
Saddled with a hopelessly bland title, American Heist fails almost completely as a heist film. The plotting is far from methodical, the motivations of the criminals are base, and none of the characters really seem to know what do except beat each other up and shoot hate-filled glares at one another. The actual heist in the film is without question one of the sloppiest in movie history, with virtually every step miscalculated. Action sequences involving cops and civilians interacting with the criminals feel as trite as they come, such that a person could nap throughout the entire proceedings and still be able to recount the plot.
The film has been titled American Heist. This seems an interesting choice for a title since it’s essentially saying that Americans don’t have the right mental devices to successfully pull off an ingenious caper. At least not if the end result is anything like this.
While the heist of the title is supposed to be the main draw of American Heist, the heart of the film is meant to be this tale of two lost brothers longing to reconnect. I really do find stories of broken families trying to repair bonds eternally interesting. Sadly, just like the rest of the film, the relationship between James and Frankie is never fully delved into enough to make you actually care about it. Because of this, when Frankie makes a surprising act towards the end of the film regarding James, it doesn’t have anywhere close to the kind of resonance it would have had we actually been given enough back history between the two of them for it to truly make any kind of meaningful impact.
Though its understandable why both actors took on their roles, the performances are truly a mixed bag. Christensen, always an underrated actor in my opinion, is simply miscast in the role of a mechanic with a dark past. I’ve been curious about the state of the actor’s present day career with regard to the choices he’s made in recent years, which have included turning down roles in films directed by the likes of Clint Eastwood and Stephen Frears. Meanwhile, the ever-immersive Brody is too good of an actor for something like American Heist, that his approach to the material is quite simply an embarrassment to watch.
Supporting the two leads are a some decent actors in highly underwritten roles. Jordana Brewster is utterly wasted as the stock girlfriend, while Akon is barely verbal as a side-villain. Only Tory Kittles as the mastermind criminal Ray manages to show any hint of life.
Throughout the entire third act when the actual heist is taking place, I kept on thinking about Spike Lee’s still-riveting Inside Man and how that film did everything the sequence in front of me was trying to do, only better. If anything, American Heist made me truly appreciate an old favorite worth revisiting.
The Package
There’s an inexplicably long “making of” featurette that’s almost as long as a third of the film and ironically titled Creating the Perfect Caper.
The Lowdown
Think of any other heist film you’ve ever seen and I promise you, it’s so much better than American Heist.
