White Boy Rick (2018)

White Boy Rick review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

It’s the 1980s and Detroit has a crack epidemic. It’s not an easy time for Rick Wershe (Matthew McConaughey) to raise two teenagers. His primary way to make a living is illegally selling guns. But he soon finds himself in deep waters when the FBI investigates him. And they have the perfect undercover agent to bust him: Rick’s son, Rick Jr. (Richie Merritt). The only way that little Rick can keep daddy Rick out of prison is if he investigates the drug trade. However, getting involved with the drug trade may seem luxurious enough to throw dad to the wolves.

Loosely based on the life of Richard Wershe Jr., one of the youngest FBI informants ever, this film does a decent job of highlighting the cyclical nature of the crime. I say highlight only because this film only feels like it’s exploring an inch of a vast landscape. Rather than highlight the pointless nature that comes with the rise & fall of dealers pushed forth by the greater system of capitalism, this film merely comes off like a routine crime picture. More than it should at times.

I kept waiting for the film to take off in a big way to separate itself from the competition. That moment never comes as we watch this rough account of 1980s crime portrayed in a manner that is strangely procedural. We watch as families start to crumble. We watch as money flows in. We watch as alliances are formed and soon topple over like a house of cards. There are a lot of guns and lots of drugs. The FBI gets involved and relationships that may have once formed shattered into pieces.

Shouldn’t there be more to this? Why does the story of America’s youngest FBI informant feel so routine? I wanted to love Merritt for his performance as a young man who walks the line between life and crime. Sadly, he mostly gets drowned in the 1980s staging, in a film more concerned he looking at the part than playing the character. It’s a bit odd that the film would go on autopilot for its grimy Scarface appeal, favoring the neon allure amid the squalor that became Detroit. Even McConaughey seems to be used far too sparingly for a film such as this.

White Boy Rick is a crime film that comes up far lighter on its appeal than one might expect. If you’re in the mood for a by-the-numbers crime film with a dash of real-life inspiration and a sprinkling of 1980s nostalgia, this is a decent picture. Anybody else expecting something more than a routine romp through one man’s rise and fall through money and drugs will be let down. And I know how weird that sounds for the story of a young kid getting into this type of empire while also being an FBI formant. But, hey, even the best stories need more than a montage of fame and a fast-paced shootout to be enticing.