Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughan) get suspended from the police force after a heavy-handed arrest in which they physically abuse a suspect and humiliate and torture another. To make ends meet they decide to steal from a criminal. The criminal is however involved in something much bigger than either man had anticipated. The men enter a fight for survival where walking away with nothing isn’t an option.
The two lead cops are sympathetically portrayed awful people. They make casual racist remarks, humiliate and torment a naked female suspect and bemoan the good old days when men were men and women were dames. Brett’s main motive for stealing the money is that he wants to move his family out of the black neighbourhood they live in before the daughter gets raped. This makes for very uncomfortable viewing, especially as Mel Gibson is playing the role. His chief giving him a sincere warning that his appalling behaviour may one day be captured on camera does not solicit much self-reflection.
Portrayal does not equate to approval of course, and the film features a sympathetic black character named Biscuit (Michael Jai White) who finds himself in too deep. But take for example the subplot of Kelly Summer (Jennifer Carpenter) who is a new mother who does not want to return to the workforce. Her husband is unable to return to work and so she is forced to go out and provide for her family. This ultimately results in her involvement in the criminal activity in which the female characters are afforded no agency, just gruesome victimhood. There is an implied link between her death and her subverted gender role.
Zahler has made a name for himself in gritty thrillers which bend genres and feature harsh gore and upsetting deaths. This is, however, the first time that he has not presented sympathetic lead characters. Although always violent there’s always a reassuring self-deprecation or decency to the leads. Here you are left wondering whether the film will at some point condemn these men or vindicate them. Choosing a matter of fact approach but having the action of the film conform to some of their prejudices makes for a very unsettling experience.
However, the final ten minutes of the film go some way to remedying this. It demonstrates how prejudice and mistrust create the monsters that bigots fear. The remedy is a lot more nuanced and subtle than the problems.
It is, of course, a very tense thriller that takes it’s time to build tension and really feel the tough situations the characters are trapped within. Some moments play out with a tongue in cheek ferocity. There’s a silliness to some of the violence. Zahler’s sense of humour is evident in dialogue. There are snappy lines and some eccentric characters. The film goes a long way to garner pathos for its often despicable characters. This is part of the discomfort of watching the film but it’s undeniable that Gibson and Vaughn provide committed performances that give a real sense of character. Their dynamic is lively and interesting.
Dragged Across Concrete is yet another uneasy but thrilling watch from S. Craig Zahler, but this time I’m not sure I’m in on the joke. Perhaps despite all the head-stomping, body-splitting antics of this director’s work, prejudice is the ugliest thing he has portrayed yet.
Three Stars
Dragged Across Concrete is showing at the London Film Festival. Full Details here: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/