White Boy Rick (2018)

Sometimes solid little films fly under the radar. Entertaining, well crafted, featuring strong performances, yet they don’t capture the imagination of audiences. But people later come across them, enjoy them, mention them in passing to friends. White Boy Rick falls squarely into that category. It’s a film hat you’ll be glad you saw but may not incite you to rush out to see it.

For me movies based on “true” stories are difficult. There is no way to be neutral or objective in how the story is told. White Boy Rick tells Rick’s story from a viewpoint which sympathizes strongly with him. His family is flawed but loveable. His circumstances excuse his behaviour or at least mitigate it so that his consequences were unfair. Going into “true stories” I always try to evaluate on how good it works as a movie and not so much in how authentic it is.

And as a movie White Boy Rick is quite entertaining, finding that crowd pleasuring mix of comedy and tragedy, finding a filmatic style which supports its plot, and telling a story that is truly engaging. McCaunghey and much of the cast give strong performances even if central the character played by Richie Merritt is somewhat wooden. I enjoyed seeing White Boy Rick.

Yet White Boy Rick may remain below the radar as it never distinguishes itself as anything special. But not being special isn’t an indictment. This is the kind of story that we are used to seeing and it is done well. So it’s quite satisfying even if it might blend into the background somewhat.

White Boy Rick
Starring: Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Tyree Henry, Bruce Dern, Piper Laurie
Director: Yann Demange
Writers: Andy Weiss, Logan Miller, Noah Miller