rafiqueadzam There's no doubt that this movie is great when it comes to production quality.The plot is quite intricate.The storyline is quite compelling.The camera angles are good.The acting was alright.The storyline was good as well.There is no doubt that this movie is a good movie and is definitely worth your time and money.

CelluloidDog This film actually falls into more the Midnight Cowboy or Taxi Driver genre rather than the typical heist film. It's not slick, sexy gadgety or with any super villain or super cop. That's probably what most people look for: a fast-paced sexy thrill of a heist. But it is again, more comparable to Midnight Cowboy or Taxi Driver, not quite in that class but you get the message. It's about the odd people getting the short stick in life. They may fail because they simply may not grasp what it takes to succeed in this world nor are given any advantages in life. Adrien Brody and Hayden Christiansen play the destitute down-on-luck brothers. Hayden plays James, the more balanced one who tries to lead a normal life. Older brother Frankie is more like the good-for-nothing lowlife career criminal. Quite similar to Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman's (Ratso) characters in Cowboy except Frankie and James served time. In Cowboy, Ratso was the con man bringing Joe Buck for the ride. In the same respect, Frankie takes James for a ride. How ungrounded and unsuccessful Frankie is signified by stealing a yellow lemon of a car. It breaks down. It's almost comical. Frankie raves that no one will notice the yellow car is stolen. But in reality, the audience knows, it is far too conspicuous. Frankie might as well wear prison orange. So the viewer can take note unfortunately such rides don't have basis in reality but only lead to dead ends.American Heist doesn't come close to those masterpieces but it tries. Unfortunately many viewers may miss the point. James tries to lead a normal life, seeks a bank loan and starts a relationship with Emily played by Jordana Brewster. Acting is superb by Brody who doesn't get a nod for a superb performance. Jordana Brewster comes close and Hayden Christiansen (should we take him seriously as an actor?) actually is creditable in his straight role.Problems? For one, the long slow pre-death scene that almost goes nowhere and the Akon soundtrack. It tries to be almost an art-house type heist but also falls a bit short of most people's expectations. But view it for the what it really is: a movie about down-and-outs. Real rating: 7.2-7.5, could be the best crime movie of the year but who notices? I bump it up due to low ratings which this film doesn't deserve. Plenty of good films get missed the first time. It might be a decade before anyone notices.

zardoz-13 Armenian director Sarik Andreasyan's first English-language film "American Heist" is a generic, sometimes pretentious, B-movie crime thriller about an abortive New Orleans bank heist. The thing that bothered me throughout this lackluster 95-minute epic was why Oscar-winning actor Adrian Brody went slumming to make this minor exercise in formula film making. Sure, I can understand why Hayden Christensen might make a grubby little bit of grit like this to show off his acting chops, get to brandish a firearm, and distance himself from the "Star Wars" galaxy. Actually, Christensen isn't bad. Perhaps some of Brody's Method-like acting rubbed off on him. I can't understand why gorgeous Jordana Brewster would grovel as Christensen's romantic interest in this fair to middling potboiler. Clearly, everybody must have been motivated by a paycheck. First, you have to understand that this is a saga about losers. Frankie (Adroan Brody) has some pals who protected him in prison from perverts that wanted to rape him with toothpaste strong-arm him into participating in their heist, and he strings along his brother James. Incidentally, Frankie served 10 years in prison for killing a cop, and he emerges from prison at the start of the movie to visit his younger brother James. James spent 16 months behind bars and now toils as a mechanic. James dreams of establishing his own shop, but the bank denies him a loan. Of course, this makes James a sympathetic character."American Heist" begins with James hearing gunshots in a building and then the film flashbacks to a day earlier, and we see him toiling as an auto mechanic. He catches up with an old flame, Emily (Jordana Brewster of "The Fast and the Furious"), who had left New Orleans after Katrina. She is back now working as a dispatchers for the New Orleans Police Department. After Frankie gets out of jail, he visits his younger brother and they meet later at a small bar. Frankie tells James about an idea for flipping and fixing houses and introduces him to his associates Ray (Tory Kittles of "Dirty") and Sugar (Akon of "Coach Carter"), who will provide the upfront money. As it turns out, Ray and Sugar are two heavily armed, trash-talking thugsters who make James complicit in their illegal shenanigans. They ride in James' Duster to a remote location, shoot it up, and flee with a security SUV hot on their trail, but James manages to lose the rent-a-cop. Ray orders James to get rid of the Duster.Now, James is supremely upset with his sleazy, no-good brother for not watching out for him. Frankie shows up at James' house with Ray and Sugar in tow. Sugar takes the Duster and ditches it with Ray sits on the front steps and talks about a proposed bank job. Ray spouts off like he knows something about life when he justifies their decision to rob a bank. Consider Ray's rant: "Take a look around, kid. What do you see? Homes being foreclosed. People working two, three jobs just to put food on the table and still drowning in debt. Don't get me wrong. This country was founded on great ideals and principles. But they've all been ruined by the banks. Open your eyes, Jimmy. It's the banks that are robbing you." And then later Ray adds, "You know who my favorite president was? Thomas Jefferson. Because he saw all of this coming and tried to stop it. He fought the banks. JFK, too, and they killed him for it. 'The banking institution is more dangerous than an army,' he said. He also said that every generation needs a revolution, Jimmy. The American dream is just that, just a f#*king dream." James knows that he is in deep crap when Ray tells him "to get some sleep, but no sleep walking." What clinches everything is Ray's next line: "Any problems you cause will be very bad for your brother." Whether he likes it or not, James is trapped between a rock and a hard place. Ray explains how the heist will work. "War is a continuation of politics, only by other means. Politics is a continuation of economics by other means. This is our bank. This is our war. And this is our plan of attack." As it turns out, James will hijack several cars and blow them up to distract the police. At this point, "American Heist" gets interesting. The gang plans to create distractions just as Steve McQueen and his cronies did in Sam Peckinpah's "The Getaway." Naturally, since this is a 'crime does not pay' thriller, the heist fails and fails miserably when an innocent bystander crossing the street spots the robbery. Later, James learns that his wayward brother Frankie put sugar in Emily's gas tank. Frankie warns James that things will go bad for Emily if James screws upThe best part of "American Heist" is the heist itself. Of course, everything goes wrong for the robbers. Nevertheless, Andreasyan demonstrates a modicum of talent during the robbery that takes place in the last half-hour. Ray is cold-blooded when he blasts the bank manager at point blank. The police chopper that crashes into the building is an unexpected delight. Frankie's last ditch effort to redeem himself occurs near fade-out when he dresses James as a bank customer and smuggles him out as a hostage. Mind you, Brody delivers a brilliant performance as the scumbag brother, while Christensen is tolerable as his callow brother. Brewster is squandered as eye candy. You have to wonder if James and Emily hook up after the botched bank robbery. "American Heist" is a potboiler with an adequate budget, some strong performances, and a well staged bank heist. Ray's rants are interesting, but nothing about his little 'us against the system' opus qualifies as memorable.

LeonLouisRicci You Might Know There's Going to be Trouble When the Director Speaks No English and Attempts a Movie Called "American" Heist. Plenty of Trouble Ahead. Adrien Brody Pulls Out the Acting Chops and Allows Every Mannerism, Tick, and Body Posture to Overwhelm the Melodramatic Dialog About His Family, His Past, and His Hard Time in The Big House.Hayden Christensen hasn't Given a Watchable Performance Since Shattered Glass (2003), where He was Excellent Playing the Real Life Defrocked Journalist Stephen Glass. This is Another in a String of Brooding, One Note Acts, with Little Facial Expression and Not Much Emoting Beyond "Hurting".The Heist Itself is Big on Bullets and Heat (1995) Like Weapons and Rapid Fires. Just Because it was in the Budget, there is an Inner City Helicopter Crash that is Pretty Generic as Far as Inner City Helicopter Crashes Go.The Love Interest and Only Female on Set is Jordana Brewster as a Former Flame Rekindled and She Goes Through the Motions with the Rest of the Non-Descript and Unnecessarily Nasty Black Gang Leaders. Not the Worst Movie Ever and Fans of Brody Might Want to Take a Look at the Oscar Winner Slumming and Unleashed in a B-Movie Mess. Christensen Lost What Fans He May Have Had When He Said Yes to Playing the Dark One. Action Fans are Given a Third Act Shoot 'em Up that is Standard Stuff and Nothing But Familiarly OK.