''American Heist'' is a 2014
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film directed by Russian director
Sarik Andreasyan
Sarik Garnikovich Andreasyan (russian: Сарик Гарникович Андреасян; hy, Սարիկ Գառնիկի Անդրեասյան; born 1984) is a Russian-Armenian director, producer and screenwriter who has worked on films and com ...
, based on the 1959 film ''
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
''The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery'' (also called ''The St. Louis Bank Robbery'', the film title in the opening credits) is a 1959 Big caper movie, heist film, directed by Charles Guggenheim and starring Steve McQueen as a college dropout hired to ...
'' directed by
Charles Guggenheim
Charles Eli Guggenheim (March 31, 1924 – October 9, 2002) was an American documentary film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was the most honored documentary filmmaker in the academy history, winning four Oscars from twelve nominations ...
and John Stix.
The film stars
Hayden Christensen
Hayden Christensen (; born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the ''Star Wars'' media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, '' Star Wars: Episode ...
,
Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recu ...
,
Adrien Brody
Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...
and
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...
. It had its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2014,
and was released theatrically in Canada on July 24, 2015, by
Mongrel Media
Mongrel Media is an independent Canadian film distributor established in 1994 by Hussain Amarshi. It is the exclusive Canadian theatrical distributor for Sony Pictures Classics, Neon, and Lionsgate and titles from A24, Amazon Studios, Saban Film ...
.
Plot
James (Hayden Christensen), a man with nothing to lose, owes his life to his older brother Frankie (Adrien Brody), who took the rap for a crime they did together. While Frankie served time, James worked to turn his life around, he manages to get a job as a mechanic, and begins courting his girlfriend Emily (Jordana Brewster), a police dispatcher. Now, Frankie is released and back on the streets and pulls his brother into a heist to serve as wheel man.
Initially James refuses. The heist is planned by Frankie's associates Sugar and Ray whose anti-banking rhetoric, violent streak, and elaborate planning have James unwilling to participate. He instead suggests the brothers break ties and flee. Frankie is unable to do this because he is indebted to his associates from his time in prison. During the beginning of his incarceration Frankie admits that he suffered sexual abuse and humiliation until he fell under the protection of Ray and Sugar, and alludes that he would likely not have survived without them. Frankie also informs James that he had mentioned Emily to them as their friendship developed, and alludes she may be in danger if James does not participate in the heist. The brothers spend the next few days bonding, and James tearfully ends his relationship with Emily, hoping to put distance between them.
On the morning of the robbery, the crew is met by a fifth member, Spoonie, who helps initiate several distractions around the city. They then enter the bank planning to gain access to the vault with access codes obtained earlier. The heist proceeds as planned until an eyewitness walking towards the bank sees Frankie through a window and then notices James parked in a car. She flees to a nearby store to call the authorities.
As sirens close in, James enters the bank to inform the group that they have less time than planned. As they begin to move Spoonie is nowhere to be found and it becomes apparent that he had taken the getaway vehicle and fled, stranding them in the bank as police take positions around it.
As the group struggles to come up with a new plan, Frankie initiates a shootout with police, saving James' life and taking a bullet to the abdomen. As Sugar and Ray lay down suppressing fire, James breaks into a nearby car and hot wires it. The group takes a hostage and makes it to the car, but James returns to the bank when he realizes Frankie is being left behind. He discovers his brother contemplating suicide, and Frankie makes it clear he has no intention of going back to prison.
The brothers stall for time as their associates are gunned down one by one as they flee the police. Seeing no other way out, Frankie attacks James, renders him unconscious, and proceeds to dress him in the clothes of a hostage. James regains consciousness just as Frankie exits the bank with him disguised as a hostage. Emily, working from the police dispatch center, looks on in disbelief as she recognizes a bloody James and unmasked Frankie. A police sniper kills Frankie on live news and James is ushered into an ambulance, where he attacks the paramedic and discreetly makes an escape in the rain. As the paramedic regains consciousness and calls it in over the government radio, the call is routed to Emily, who gets up and leaves her work station. James takes a moment to relax while he sits down on a trolley as the film ends.
Cast
*
Hayden Christensen
Hayden Christensen (; born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the ''Star Wars'' media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, '' Star Wars: Episode ...
as James Kelly
*
Adrien Brody
Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...
as Frankie Kelly
*
Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recu ...
as Emily
*
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...
as Sugar
*
Tory Kittles
Tory Kittles is an American actor. He has appeared in the films '' Malibu's Most Wanted'' (2003), ''Get Rich or Die Tryin (2005), ''Next'' (2007), ''Miracle at St. Anna'' (2008), and ''Dragged Across Concrete'' (2018). He is known mostly for h ...
as Ray
* Luis Da Silva Jr. as Spoonie
*
Rachel Bilson
Rachel Sarah Bilson (born August 25, 1981) is an American actress. Born to a Californian show-business family, Bilson made her television debut in 2003, and then landed the role of Summer Roberts on the prime-time drama series '' The O.C.'' B ...
as eyewitness
Production
Glacier Films produced the film within $10 million range.
Principal photography of the film began in June 2013 in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
Box office
''American Heist'' was only screened in 10 theaters in the U.S. and grossed a very small sum: $251, according to The Numbers
or $5,800, according to Movie City News, with additional $1,760,247 grossed from home video sales.
In Russia and ex-Soviet countries, the movie had a wider release and grossed more than $2 million, still below the movie's budget of $10,000,000,
and is considered a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
.
Reception
''American Heist'' received negative reviews; on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds a 13% rating based on 15 reviews. According to
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film's average critical rating was 23 out of 100. Reception in Russian media was also predominantly negative; according to Kritikanstvo and Megacritic
Ограбление по-американски - отзывы о фильме
— Мегакритик aggregators, Russian critics ranked the movie 3.5 out of 10 on average.
References
External links
*
{{Sarik Andreasyan
2014 films
2014 action drama films
2014 action thriller films
2014 crime drama films
2014 crime thriller films
2010s heist films
2014 independent films
2010s prison films
2014 thriller drama films
American action thriller films
American crime action films
American crime thriller films
American independent films
Remakes of American films
Canadian action thriller films
Canadian crime drama films
Canadian crime thriller films
Canadian independent films
2014 crime action films
Films about brothers
Films set in New Orleans
Films shot in New Orleans
Films shot in Toronto
English-language Luxembourgian films
Luxembourgian drama films
Luxembourgian independent films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
2010s Canadian films