By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Bart Layton
Starring: Ann Dowd | Barry Keoghan | Blake Jenner | Evan Peters | Jared Abrahamson | Udo Keir
Country: united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2018
Running time: 116
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6212478/reference
Thom says: “Bart Layton was the director of note on the very good 2012 documentary feature THE IMPOSTER and he brings a lot of nice effects to this “true crime” drama, somewhat, but irresponsibly, played for chuckles at the thieves ineptitude. 4 supposedly bright & well-off young college frosh decide to divest a Kentucky University (Decauter?) of its very valuable first edition books (including original drawings by the estimable Audubon), locked away on display in a private room in the library. One of the Gang of 4 goes so far as to arrange a rendezvous with a seedy shyster in Amsterdam perfectly named Mr. Van Der Hoek (ideally dodgy Udo Kier). The 4 name themselves after characters from RESERVOIR DOGS. The director keenly uses talking heads from the original happenings all those years back. Barry Keoghan fr esh from his Chlotrudis victory as Best Supporting Actor 2017 from his strange role in the controversial KILLING OF A SACRED DEER shows up here as laconic Spencer, one of the 4 dobadders, and he’s fine with not much to work with. Evan Peters, so varied in AMERICAN HORROR STORY, is good here as is Ann Dowd (brilliant in HEREDITARY) as the beleaguered librarian. But realistically there’s not much logic to the heist and any sympathy dragged up for the participants is more due to the actors than the script warrants. 3 cats”