Noir-vember: Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

There are a number of things about Dragged Across Concrete that make it an interesting watch. First of all, the continuing development of the filmography of S. Craig Zahler, a man who has made quite a name for himself by crafting films around unpleasant characters with unpleasant attitudes. Certain things keep coming up again and again, making you question how much of himself Zahler puts onscreen (especially when so much of the runtime has characters saying, either overtly or more subtly, "I'm not racist, BUT..."), but you also have to accept that writers and directors can have fun with unpleasant characters without necessarily sharing any common ground with them. It's just unfortunate that Zahler seems to keep doubling down on elements of his work that are, at the very least, quite troubling, certainly on the surface. Second, you get a fantastic performance from Mel Gibson, all the more effective for it making good use of the baggage he now inevitably brings to many of his roles. Third, it certainly gives you plenty to talk about after.

Unfortunately, the main chain of events shown onscreen aren't really that interesting. Two cops (played by Vince Vaughn and Mel Gibson) are caught being a bit too rough with someone during a raid. This leads to them being suspended, without pay, and leads to them eventually hatching a plan to get a payday from some criminal they suspect of lining up a big deal. It turns out that the big deal is actually a bank robbery, and things start to get more dangerous, and much harder to keep on track when innocent lives are at stake.

Dragged Across Concrete is a taut, 90-minute thriller that steeps every character in scene in the essence of neo-noir and builds to an expected climax of bloodshed and loss. Well, it could have been. If only Zahler had managed to rein himself in, and cut back on the many moments of excess that lead to the whole thing being a bloated and trundling mess that exceeds two and a half hours in length. Which would be understandable if he had better words to feed his talented cast. He doesn't. Any attempts at commentary, or even just cool, fall flat, and there isn't one character you end up wanting to see live to the end credits.

As good as Gibson is in his role, and he's very good, everyone else is pretty much wasted. Tory Kittles and Michael Jai White try their best, playing two men involved in the robbery who don't necessarily approve of the sudden jump to ruthless violence, but Vaughn can't make anything of his role (a bigger shame when you consider how well Zahler used him in Brawl In Cell Block 99), Don Johnson starts to get into his stride and is then out of the movie after only a couple of scenes, and Jennifer Carpenter is perhaps treated the worst of all, in a couple of scenes that are simply bizarre in how they unfold. Laurie Holden isn't given much to do either, just appearing to justify the actions of Gibson, in his work and, by extrapolation, his criminal plan.

If things keep progressing at this rate, Zahler should be along in a couple of years with his next movie, a thrilling dramatic reconstruction of the Rodney King beating from the point of view of the poor, overworked, police officers involved. We'll just have to wait and see. Suffice it to say, I will be waiting for news of any future films from him with much less anticipation.

5/10

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Frankenfish (2004)

With a title like Frankenfish you can't really expect highbrow entertainment when the opening titles start up and, unsurprisingly, that's not what you get. Instead, this is a fun creature feature that suffers from budgetary limitations, but tries to make up for such shortcomings with energy and a sense of humour. It doesn't quite do enough to be a good film, but it does enough to avoid being something unwatchable.

Tory Kittles plays Sam Rivers and China Chow is Mary Callahan in this tale of a killer fish that has been causing some trouble in the bayou. Sam and Mary are sent to investigate the death of a fisherman and it quickly becomes clear that Sam is comfortable in the environment, having grown up there, while Mary certainly isn't. The locals living in the bayou are slightly worried, understandably, but they start to feel worse when it becomes obvious that the fish has returned. And it's hungry.

While it may be more Lake Placid than SyFy original (like . . . . . ummm . . . Lake Placid 2), Frankenfish can't quite do enough to make up for its many shortcomings. It tries very hard, thanks to the enjoyable assortment of characters and the flavour of the bayou being played up to distract from the variable SFX work, but there are just too many moments that serve to remind viewers that a lot of work has been done to raise this up to the level of b-movie.

Director Mark A. Z. Dippe doesn't do too bad, thanks to the script by Simon Barrett and Scott Clevenger, but I can't help thinking that more could have been done to reward the cast. Kittles and Chow are both okay, and the supporting cast includes the likes of K. D. Aubert and Donna Biscoe having fun while Reggie Lee and Mark Boone Junior do decent work with their small roles.

Not one to watch if you have a big pile of other movies to choose from, Frankenfish will help you kill 90 minutes whenever you're in the mood for a half-decent creature feature.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frankenfish-DVD-Tory-Kittles/dp/B0002W12B2/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1361296629&sr=1-1