White Boy Rick

Yes, if you expect this to be a Hollywood "gangster movie" with distinctly extreme highs and lows in the plot, you'll be extremely disappointed....but if you remember that White Boy Rick is just a human being, and this is a film about human beings struggling, you'll appreciate this film.

I went to see this with an open mind as the reviews were mixed. I actually enjoyed the movie. Yes, some parts were slow but this is not Infinity Wars people (the Marvel generation wants an explosion or murder every 2 minutes). I actually found the dad's character as the most believable. His struggles in life and poor decision making was the actual catalyst for most of the stuff that went on. I say go see it for yourself. May not be a date movie but definitely a guy movie for sure.

Rick Wershe Jr's claim to fame, or infamy if you prefer, was that at fourteen he was the youngest ever FBI informant before becoming a kingpin drug dealer at sixteen. Yann Demange's (he made "'71"), film "White Boy Rick" is a 'Serpico'-like account of how Rick got into this and it makes for surprisingly sobering viewing. It didn't help that his dad, (an absolutely terrific Matthew McConaughey), was a low-life gun dealer and his sister, (Bel Powley, brilliant), a junkie. You might say that with a family like this, a life of crime was inevitable.

It's a tragic story that Demange never exploits and if it isn't quite in the same class as "'71" it may be because this is material we've seen too often in the past. In the title role newcomer Richie Merritt is excellent and the film looks terrific, (Tat Radcliffe was the cinematographer), moving nicely from Hollywood crime movie gloss to documentary realism often in the same scene. In the end, this is a grim, downbeat little movie but it's hard-to-believe true story is one worth telling and Demange tells it very well indeed.

White Boy Rick: This is a true story based in the 80's about a 15-year-old, Rick Wershe Jr, who worked as an undercover FBI informant. I hadn't read up on this story, because I wanted to watch the movie not knowing any details. I was pleasantly surprised. This movie was not what I was expecting. I went in thinking it would be a Pablo Escobar kinda movie, but it was not. It's about a teenager trying to figure out how to survive living in a low income part of Detroit. It was heart wrenching, and even had some very funny parts. It also had some parts that made you shake your head and say, "what is he thinking?" In my opinion, it's definitely worth the watch. Also, I was completely blown away by Richie Merritt's performance. Especially since this was the first time he's acted, ever.

The story of Richard Wershe Jr., a 16-year-old who became an FBI informant, and one of Detroit's biggest drug dealers.

It's a shame that this film does not have the right pace and storyline, turning out to be a missing shot (pun intended).

The performances are generally good (especially by Matthew McConaughey), although the characters navigate in a narrative that tries to go from action to drama, without making a transition that makes sense.

I'm a fan of the duo director / cinematographer (they made some eps of Top Boy), so I don't find the tone and atmosphere strange.

The problem is the lack of details and interesting scenes, which make this film really easy to forget.