Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexual material and brief drug use.
Starring Hayden Christensen and Adrien Brody
Directed by Sarik Andersen
The only thing this film stole was my money.
James (Hayden Christensen) owes his life to his older brother, Frankie (Adrien Brody) after taking the rap for a crime they committed together. While Frankie served time, James worked to turn his life around, got a steady job and began courting his former girlfriend Emily (Jordana Brewster). Now, Frankie is released and back on the streets with no money and no place to go. He turns to his underworld connections (Akon) and convinces James to join him in hopes that one last job will be the solution to change both their lives.
So what happens when a film stars one actor that you are a big fan of and one that you dislike everything they have ever done? Well you hope for the best. Turns out, it didn’t work out. I generally like Adrien Brody but it is still a mystery how Hayden Christensen is still working in Hollywood.
Sarik Andreasyan, directing his first English-language feature, tries too hard to make a political statement with this hack of a heist film. “The banking institution is more dangerous than the army.” Yeah that’s actually in the film… and so breaking into the vault is justified.
Not to mention that not a single actor bothers to adopt a Louisiana accent, even though the action is set in New Orleans.
American Heist is not worth your time let alone your money…its a “Coaster.”
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Not this one. The films is rated R and there is strong violence during the bank robbery near the end of the movie.
Plus there are over 200 F-words and 51 S-words.
CONVERSATION STARTER:
- How do the bank robbers justify what they are doing?
- How can “justifying” our actions be dangerous?
- What would it look like if everyone did what was “right in their own eyes”?
- How can you do the right thing when everyone else is doing the wrong thing?
Read Judges 21:25b
All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.