White Boy Rick (15.)
Directed by Yann Demange.
Starring Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rory Cochrane, Eddie Marsan, Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie. 111 mins.
Pretty much ever since On The Waterfront, Hollywood has been making cautionary tales about the perils of being an informant. No pursuit – not drug taking, not organised crime, not being a sexually active teenager around Halloween – has been so certain to result in a sticky end. The view from the bridge is that a grass's lot is not a happy one.
White Boy Rick is a bazedonnatrustory of a teenage drug dealer and informant active in the wasteland of mid 80s Detroit. We first see Rick (Merritt) and his dad (McConaughey) at a gun fair, part of dad's scheme to get rich by opening a video shop, funded by his activities as a street corner purveyor of shady weaponry and DIY silencer maker. After a few cursory encounters with a black gang, the FBI (Leigh, Cochrane) roll up in a car and leverage Rick into becoming an informant. They even get the 14-year-old buying and selling drugs.
WBR catches the eye because it has an intriguing title, a strong cast and, for around five days last September, its director was touted as being the favourite to take over from Danny Boyle on the next Bond film. Judging from this he would have been a decent choice. This isn't as good as his debut feature, the Northern Ireland drama '71, but it has the same impressive sense of place, level of performance and unshowy control. Merrit is acting for the first time and is quietly impressive without feeling the need to storm any barns; no other Hollywood star can scuzz down as convincingly and easily as McConaughey.
The difference though is that while '71 offered up something new, White Boy Rick travels down some very familiar paths. We know where this is heading even if we don't know the true story it's based on. Even the people on the screen know where it's going, but can't summon up some alternative. A mighty cast has been assembled for this tale of informing, with Marsan breezing in for three scenes and Dern and Laurie showing up to play his grandparents. In the audience you want to ask them, what do you know that we don't?
Directed by Yann Demange.
Starring Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rory Cochrane, Eddie Marsan, Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie. 111 mins.
Pretty much ever since On The Waterfront, Hollywood has been making cautionary tales about the perils of being an informant. No pursuit – not drug taking, not organised crime, not being a sexually active teenager around Halloween – has been so certain to result in a sticky end. The view from the bridge is that a grass's lot is not a happy one.
White Boy Rick is a bazedonnatrustory of a teenage drug dealer and informant active in the wasteland of mid 80s Detroit. We first see Rick (Merritt) and his dad (McConaughey) at a gun fair, part of dad's scheme to get rich by opening a video shop, funded by his activities as a street corner purveyor of shady weaponry and DIY silencer maker. After a few cursory encounters with a black gang, the FBI (Leigh, Cochrane) roll up in a car and leverage Rick into becoming an informant. They even get the 14-year-old buying and selling drugs.
WBR catches the eye because it has an intriguing title, a strong cast and, for around five days last September, its director was touted as being the favourite to take over from Danny Boyle on the next Bond film. Judging from this he would have been a decent choice. This isn't as good as his debut feature, the Northern Ireland drama '71, but it has the same impressive sense of place, level of performance and unshowy control. Merrit is acting for the first time and is quietly impressive without feeling the need to storm any barns; no other Hollywood star can scuzz down as convincingly and easily as McConaughey.
The difference though is that while '71 offered up something new, White Boy Rick travels down some very familiar paths. We know where this is heading even if we don't know the true story it's based on. Even the people on the screen know where it's going, but can't summon up some alternative. A mighty cast has been assembled for this tale of informing, with Marsan breezing in for three scenes and Dern and Laurie showing up to play his grandparents. In the audience you want to ask them, what do you know that we don't?
