Anthony's Film Review - White Boy Rick (2018)

An interesting enough drama centering on a teenager in poverty...

White Boy Rick is one of those movies where the promos draw you in, but the actual movie doesn't live up to the hype. That's not to say this is a bad movie. I still enjoyed it enough. But I can't help but notice how the poster and trailer make it sound as if this movie has a really cool story about a teenager in 1980s Detroit who gets deep into a drug cartel while also being an FBI informant, all before the age of 16, and then the movie provides a more mediocre story rather than a very powerful one. Anyone with high expectations may want to skip this one. But if you're more open to even an average movie, this one still qualifies.

Detroit is a rather interesting setting for this film, given its reputation as a city plagued with poverty and crime. As the film opens, we see Richard Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt) and his father, Richard Wershe Sr. (Matthew McConaughey) talking about how to make a living. The father's dream is to open a chain of video rental stores. However, he has to make it big first, and the way he's making money now is to buy firearms like AK-47s from gun shows at a cheap price, modify them at home, and resell them in the streets at higher prices. Young Rick, a school dropout, helps out by taking the refurbished guns to prospective buyers, including members of an African-American drug cartel. Pretty soon, Rick comes across his own way to make money. He is approached by two FBI agents and an undercover Detroit cop who make a deal. If Rick can help by selling drugs undercover so that these authorities can have the evidence to nab the big players of the drug trade, then no charges will be filed against him for selling drugs and against his father for selling guns illegally, and he can keep the money from the drug sales.

Other interesting things happen in the life of this young boy in a poor environment. His sister Dawn (Bel Powley) is a drug addict who runs away with an older man. Rick makes connections with the cartel and sees that some corrupt Detroit cops and even the corrupt mayor of Detroit are part of this illicit system. It even goes so far as for Rick to join these guys on a trip to Las Vegas. Then there's the young black girl he once knew before he dropped out of school. Basically, the story is about moments in life, one surrounded by poverty and crime.

The pacing of the film is mainly a steady one, and the emotional intensity is mild at best. The increase in drama at certain points in the story is also fairly mild. So imagine a three-act story that goes something like this. The first act quietly establishes the setting and the little actions that provide starting points for subsequent events. Then the second act, following a series of relatively tense situations, goes into a somewhat more interesting story about having one final chance to make it in life, by voluntarily doing something risky and morally objectionable. And the final act, which is even more interesting but still only has mild emotional intensity, is where we wonder if it's truly the end or if it's a new beginning. Basically, the big limitation isn't the series of events that occur, but rather the feelings you'd expect to go with them.

Like the plot, the main characters are interesting enough but without too much depth. Rick is mostly the same character all the way through, a guy who takes whatever limited opportunities he has but doesn't seem to grow over the years. Of course, the kinds of circumstances he is exposed to would make anyone show little emotion as a result. In contrast, two of his other family members show somewhat of a change. At one point, we begin to see more humanity in Rick's father, as he remembers what it's like to be a loving parent. Even Dawn the drug addict seems to redeem herself, thanks to family intervention aimed at weaning her off drugs. Don't get me wrong. The young white boy Rick is still someone to care about, simply because he has been unlucky with the kind of life he was given.

Based on all of this, my rating for White Boy Rick is marginally positive. It's a movie that could bore people who require relatively more stimulation to pay attention. But if you're open to something that moves somewhat slowly and quietly but nonetheless moves along, you'll probably not fall asleep with this one. I would also like to make one quick comment about how this film is based on a true story. It might not matter for some people, but for me, I though it helped bring a bit of authenticity to this tale. Also, it was nice to see the end of the film provide an epilogue of what ultimately happens to Rick Wershe Jr. By knowing that such an unlucky young man in real life did indeed go through what he did in Detroit, we are reminded that life is precious. As average as this movie is, at least it's interesting enough to watch.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about White Boy Rick, visit the Internet Movie Database.