White Boy Rick

Based on true events, White Boy Rick follows Richie Merritt’s Rick Wershe Jr. as he descends into a life of crime after his father (Matthew McConaughey’s Richard Wershe Sr.) is threatened with jail time by the FBI – with the narrative detailing Rick’s progressively sleazy exploits in and around 1980s Detroit. Filmmaker Yann Demange delivers an exceedingly (and often excessively) familiar tale that’s almost entirely devoid of compelling attributes, as the director, working from Andy Weiss, Logan Miller, and Noah Miller’s screenplay, proves unable to transform the central character, even fleetingly, into a figure worthy of the viewer’s interest and sympathy – with the hands-off vibe compounded by an astonishingly bland and charisma-free performance by newcomer Merritt. (It’s worth noting, too, that McConaughey’s showy, tic-laden turn as the skuzzy Richard does nothing to alleviate the terminally interminable atmosphere.) The paint-by-numbers and egregiously repetitive storyline has been packed with one tedious, pointless scene after another (eg Rick goes to a wedding, Rick hangs out with his boys, etc), which paves the way for an astonishingly sluggish midsection that seems designed to alienate even the most patient of viewers (ie who cares about any of this?) By the time the tragic yet entirely anticlimactic stretch rolls around, White Boy Rick has undoubtedly confirmed its place as a seriously, aggressively worthless piece of work – with the picture’s failure especially disappointing given the promisingly eclectic supporting cast (which includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern, Bel Powley, and Eddie Marsan).

1/2 out of ****