"American Animals" An American College Crime Thriller Combined with Interviews with the Actual Culprits

"American Animals" is a TRUE story, not just BASED on a true story about 4 KY Univ. students who plan an actual "Ocean's Eights" art heist that goes bust.  The thrust of the intrigue, which remains an enigma, is why would 4 "good kids" with no criminal records conspire to rob KY Univ. of some of the world's most valuable rare books.  The reckless disregard for the consequences of their actions which include attacking & tying up the librarian responsible for maintaining the valuable collection.  The irony of Darwin's "The Origin of the Species" nabbed in this blundered robbery is not lost.  Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest" maintains the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life.  The 4 young actors portraying the actual college culprits led by the Svengali, narcissistic Walter Lipkin (an electrifying Evan Peters) are all credible in what seems an obvious felonious folly with life changing implications.  British dir/screenwriter Bart Layton's previous film "The Imposter" and TV series "Locked up Abroad" are subject to true crime & punishment accounts.   The fascination with "American Animals" is akin the case of Leopold & Loeb.  These two college students murdered a 14 yr. old believing themselves to be intellectually superior and capable of carrying out this heinous crime without be caught.  Layton's dramatization of the 2004 heist, the planning & playful antics are interjected with interviews by the real co-conspirators: Lipkin, Reinhard, Borsuk & Allen.  The most profound moment is an austere shot when Reinhard catches a glimpse of his younger doppelgänger driving to the scene of the crime.  We want to give the foursome an opportunity for a major do over to not do the crime for which they do pay the time. The accumulation of all the interviews deplete from  a taut tension.  Still, the interviews show regret,  remorse & sheer bafflement as to why they believed the theft would jump start their stagnant lives.  Has the human species evolved to where complacency with normalcy as not sustainable?  There are glimpses of the actual parents in the film and a short excerpt from librarian brutally attacked.  She believes they were looking for a short-cut to selfish gains.   Had Layton cut some of the interviews and repetitive plannings the film would be an edgier crime thriller.  The stylish cinematography & musical score add an energetic youthful exuberance & confusion.  Overall, the misguided students whose outcomes we anxiously await, provides a fascinating yet unresolved study of what drives someone to disregard their own inherent good fortune for perceived exhilaration and financial gains