Memorable mash-up
Having already blurred the lines between drama and documentary with his Bafta-winning 2012 debut The Imposter, Bart Layton now mashes them together to audacious effect.
Despite its initial claims that it is ‘‘not based on a true story’’, American Animals recounts and dramatises a group of young men’s attempt to liberate a collection of rare books from Kentucky’s Transylvania University in 2004.
Seemingly inspired as much by boredom as a desperate need for funds, art student Spencer Reinhard (Dunkirk’s Barry Keoghan) and athletics ‘‘scholar’’ Warren Lipka (X-Men Apocalypse’s Evan Peters) seek out a buyer and some friends to help them carry out their heist.
However, it quickly becomes clear that they are out of their depth. ‘‘We’re meeting some actual criminals we know nothing about, to talk about something we don’t even have,’’ one of them attempts to reason, but Warren, in particular, will not be swayed.
As the real-life Reinhard and Lipka later reflect in the movie, it was a decision they would come to rue. Their regrets (‘‘the plan was never worth the adventure’’ one opines), recriminations and conflicting accounts is what makes Animals such a compelling watch. It’s fascinating to see them look back on events with hindsight, while the action plays out in a manner of a typical Hollywood heist movie (albeit one populated by the very antithesis of a Danny Ocean-esque crew).
On that score, Layton delivers the requisite action with aplomb (including the use of split screens and key moments happening outside of the frame), as well as plenty of black humour and a mood-setting soundtrack that includes everyone from Donovan to The Doors and Rage Against the Machine to The Ramones.
As a meditation on modern-day America and its troubled, ‘‘privileged’’ youth, it reminds one of We Need to Talk About Kevin or Elephant, but with more poignancy and empathy.
It’s also an interesting counterpoint to I, Tonya, with the real-life interviewees making far more of an impact than that movie’s ‘‘faux’’ actorly subjects.
All in all, American Animals is at once a stylish thriller and an insightful documentary.