Directed by Sarik Andreasyan, American Heist is your typical thug movie without anything special to mention. With lines like “It was always me and you against the world.”, originality is lacking big time. Frankie, played by Adrien Brody, is just out of jail. His brother and crime partner, played by Hansen Christensen, is living a clean life after getting his act together while his brother was in jail.  But, Frankie doesn’t have any money or home. He needs his brother’s help to carry out one last heist. The final heist isn’t just for Frankie. Its success will help them both.  Added to the mix is some bad boy rappers, and they don’t really ad that much to the movie. Sorry boys.

I wasn’t bored watching the movie, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a bad movie at all. There are some points in the movie that I did enjoy, but the story is pretty nonspecific with Brody carrying the movie on his shoulders by pure talent.  When I see Christensen in a movie, I am looking for the Shatter Glass performance that impressed me so.  Not in this movie, I am still hoping and watching.

Hollywood heist movies are very popular if done right. Such movies as Ocean Eleven, Reservoir Dogs, and The Usual Suspects are fine examples of these movies using elements that set them apart from parallel stories.  American Heist is not unique in that sense, which is its downfall. It is a typical movie that needs some panache in order to be good and worth watching.