I probably never would’ve
bothered with White Boy Rick if not
for one simple factor: it was primarily filmed in my home city of Cleveland,
Ohio. I thought it would be a fun little game of “Name That Location”, and I
could feel a little vindication for a Detroit crime story being shot here after
they stole Kill the Irishman from us.
(Call it eye for an eye.) It turned out not be a very satisfying game, not just
because they filmed in some of the shittier parts of the city, but also since
the movie itself didn’t have much to offer beyond being just another mostly
true fact-based crime story.
The story in question follows 15-year-old
Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt), who, between 1984 and 1987, acted as an FBI
informant infiltrating a group of local drug dealers, becoming a somewhat infamous
figure in the scene under their encouragement. Rick is accosted by a pair of
agents (Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rory Cochrane) to do their dirty work under
the threat of arresting his father, Rick Sr. (Matthew McConaughey), and shutting down his
less than legal arms dealing business. This goes less than stellar after he’s
arrested for possessing eight kilos of cocaine and is given a life sentence at
the age of seventeen, which he still serves to this day.
While Rick’s story is sadly
not uncommon, the movie treats it as a rather singular incident. It skims some
of the true facts in favor of a more streamlined tale focusing on Rick’s home
dynamic and how his double life effects it. He continues peddling drugs even
after the mission is cancelled not because of a love of the game or desire for
power or glory or any of the other sexy, cinematic motivations. He and his
family live in poverty and this was a quick and easy way to make money. Simple
as that. Occasionally it flirts with some ideas of the downsides of being a ghetto
baller, such as a subplot about Rick Jr. and Sr. trying to fix their strenuous
relationship with his crack addicted sister (Bel Powley), Rick knocking up a
girl and becoming a young father, or an affair with an imprisoned kingpin’s
girlfriend that goes wrong, but never delves too deeply into any of them.
The movie also suffers from a
lack of tension, which make sense since this is a story of a nonviolent
offender, but can be poison in this genre. This comes with the territory when
your script has a foregone conclusion, and although the movie is more about the
journey than the destination, the series of vignettes that make up the journey
lack an emotional through line or This isn’t helped by the fact that, aside
from a towering performance from Matthew McConaughey strong enough to carry the
rest of the cast, the rest do well enough even though they seem to be on
autopilot, doubly disappointing when you consider that veteran actors Bruce Dern
and Piper Laurie are present as Rick’s cantankerous grandparents. Richie
Merritt does show a lot of promise, pulling off someone who’s unassuming enough
to not give the aura of drug kingpin but has more street smarts than he lets
off. I feel like this could’ve worked better as a mini series or a documentary
(in fact, there are plenty of documentaries about White Boy Rick). But in this
particular case, it comes off as a rush job.
Bottom line, White Boy Rick feels like a cliff notes
version of what could’ve been a really fascinating story. It’s competently
made, there are some decent and occasionally great performances, but the lack
of tension and emotional investment will leave audiences cold. Even though the
pickings are slim in the mid-September doldrums, there’s gotta be better options
than this until the Oscar contenders come rolling in in October. I heard A Simple Favor is pretty good. Go check
that out instead.
5/10
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