American Animals
The storytelling frequently jumps between interviews with the real people portrayed in the movie and the events themselves performed by actors.
In 2003 in Lexington, Kentucky, Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan) is an art student who feels his life has no meaning, that he needs something exciting, even if tragic, to happen in his life to inspire greater artistry. Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) is a rebellious student on an athletic scholarship, though he does not care much for sports and is only pursuing the education to please his family.
After Spencer is given a tour of Transylvania University’s library’s rare book collection, the two friends begin to plan to steal an extremely valuable edition of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America and other rare books. Warren travels to Amsterdam to meet some black market buyers who express interest in buying the books. Upon returning to the US, he informs Spencer that they could make millions of dollars, much to their excitement.
Realizing that pulling off the heist will require more people, they enlist the help of childhood friends Erik Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson), who helps provide the logistics of the operation, and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner), who will be the getaway driver. They all take time to prepare, learning that the only person guarding the books is the special collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch (Ann Dowd).
On the day of the robbery, they disguise themselves as elderly businessmen, and enter the library. After noticing that there are too many people in the special collections library, they quickly abort the heist and retreat. Three of the conspirators want to end the attempt altogether, but Warren calls the library asking for a private appointment the next day.
They decide to drop the elaborate old-age disguises. While Spencer acts as a lookout outside the building, Warren and Eric enter the library dressed as young businessmen. Warren clumsily tases the special collections librarian and makes Eric help tie her up and gag her. They take the rare books and blunder to an exit. In a panic, they drop and have to leave behind the biggest prizes, two enormous Audubon books comprising “The Birds of America.” All four manage to escape with two of the rarer books.
They take the books to Christie’s auction house in New York to get the authentication of value that Warren had said the Dutch buyers required. Spencer is told he has to come back sometime the next day and leaves his cell phone number with an auction assistant. In the van outside, Chas berates everyone for their stupidity, and they return to Lexington with the books. Shortly after, Spencer realizes that the police will be able to trace them from emails they used in setting up the heist as well as his cell phone number.
The thieves show signs of great stress as they try to lie low: Warren attempts to shoplift from a convenience store; Spencer gets into a car accident; and Eric starts a bar fight. Inevitably, the FBI raid all four of their homes and arrest them. Movie titles show they each serve over 7 years in federal prison.
After prison, the real-life robbers express their regret for attempting the heist, noting how much pain they have put their families through. It is also revealed that Warren may have lied about going to Amsterdam, fabricating the story to get the others to agree to the heist. However, this is not confirmed.
An epilogue describes their lives after prison. Eric lives in Los Angeles as a writer, and Chas has become a fitness coach in Southern California. Warren has re-enrolled in college and studies filmmaking in Philadelphia. Spencer still lives in Lexington making a living as an artist, specializing in birds. Betty Jean Gooch, the librarian, still works at Transylvania University as a special collections librarian. Classification: 15