American Heist isn't great but it will fill some cinema watching time without you feeling ripped off.
Set in New Orleans, Christensen plays the usual good-hearted boy in a relationship with a straight arrow gal but with a dark side, dealing with his ex-con brother (Brody). Think Affleck's character in The Town done a bit more superficially. Yep, the dynamic has been done to death and no surprises how it ends up, at least most way through the flick.
Brody has got himself mixed up with some hard crims with a cause (one of the odd twists in the film is the Robin Hoodesque demeanour of the head villain): revenge for the injustices perpetrated by banks, and make a lot of cash. The evil men at the centre of this are the impressive Akon (Sugar) and his friend in crime (Spoonie).
It becomes clear that Brody has got his bro' in too deep. At one point he justifies his following these dangerous gangsters, it seems, based on their helping him extract toothpaste from his keister (something only a true friend would do in the can, presumably).
For those that read the reviews with spoiler warnings, I won't give away the mildly clever twist at the end of a film that otherwise emplys the usual climax of automatic weapon gunplay.
Good dialogue, good use of a 10 million dollar budget and moderately satisfying overall. Don't expect too much and you'll have a good time with American Heist.
Set in New Orleans, Christensen plays the usual good-hearted boy in a relationship with a straight arrow gal but with a dark side, dealing with his ex-con brother (Brody). Think Affleck's character in The Town done a bit more superficially. Yep, the dynamic has been done to death and no surprises how it ends up, at least most way through the flick.
Brody has got himself mixed up with some hard crims with a cause (one of the odd twists in the film is the Robin Hoodesque demeanour of the head villain): revenge for the injustices perpetrated by banks, and make a lot of cash. The evil men at the centre of this are the impressive Akon (Sugar) and his friend in crime (Spoonie).
It becomes clear that Brody has got his bro' in too deep. At one point he justifies his following these dangerous gangsters, it seems, based on their helping him extract toothpaste from his keister (something only a true friend would do in the can, presumably).
For those that read the reviews with spoiler warnings, I won't give away the mildly clever twist at the end of a film that otherwise emplys the usual climax of automatic weapon gunplay.
Good dialogue, good use of a 10 million dollar budget and moderately satisfying overall. Don't expect too much and you'll have a good time with American Heist.