Monsterfest VII: DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE

Presented on the opening night of the festival, Dragged Across Concrete is the newest movie from S. Craig Zahler. It is the story of two cops, one young and one older, who after a overzealous arrest of a Mexican drug dealer find themselves suspended without pay. Ridgeman, the old cop played by Mel Gibson, realises that the only way he’s going to be able to provide for his family is to step outside of the law, and he recruits Tony (Vince Vaughn) to help him rip off some criminals. At the same time, we follow Henry (Troy Kittles), a recently released convict who has fallen in with the criminals to help provide for his mother and brother.

From that description, it sounds like a story we’ve heard many times of corrupt cops and their misadventures, but Zahler isn’t telling that familiar story. It quickly becomes clear that we’re in new, unpredictable territory and in the hands of an assured filmmaker.

Slow Burn

Zahler likes to take his time (this movie clocks in at nearly three hours), and this movie is full of very slow, very deliberate moments of silence and waiting and watching. Vast portions of the movie are focused on characters thinking and divining their actions, weighing up the cost and deciding what to do next. When Ridgeman explains his extra-curricular plan to Tony, it’s a long scene of Ridgeman explaining his motives and Tony struggling to make a decision. It’s not rushed or forced.

It actually feels like a real conversation in which one party needs the other’s help but at the same time doesn’t want to coerce them into something they don’t want to do. It almost plays out in a way that makes it as though Tony is waiting to hear the perfect reason to go ahead with the job, while Ridgeman is waiting for the perfect reason to walk away.

Zahler’s script and direction handle these kinds of interactions with confidence, letting them play out in their own time. And the performances of the two leads sell this friendship and relationship in a way that feels lived out and genuine.

The Mel-ephant in the Room

When you’ve got a character who is forced out of their career for a racial incident recorded on a phone, it’s a very bold choice to cast Mel Gibson in that part. It’s even bolder to have multiple characters – multiple white characters – sympathise with him and instead treat the witness to the incident and the press as the real villains. To say it’s distracting is an understatement. However, the whole thing is really only the meat of two scenes.

One, the initial reveal where Vaughn, Gibson, and Don Johnson sit around and lament the press’ role in taking down people labelled as racists (Johnson remarks that its akin to McCarthyism) and one later where Gibson, framed alone in the shot, has a monologue about how he’s stuck in his ways and how the amount of work he’s done for the police should excuse him.

It’s uncomfortable and, frankly, unnecessary, as, let’s be honest, Gibson didn’t even have to spend that much time in Hollywood jail. He disappeared for a bit, then came back and got to direct a movie that was then nominated for numerous Oscars. He wasn’t blacklisted like the filmmakers targeted by McCarthy, and he’s barely felt the brunt of any kind of punishment.

And the most annoying thing? He’s really good in this movie. Once the movie gets past the inciting incident and into the plot, Gibson gives an excellent performance, which stands a million miles away from his goofier buddy cop work in Lethal Weapon. He’s old, he’s broken down, and he’s tired, and it’s written in every line of his face. It’s just a shame that in real life he really, really sucks.

Final Thoughts: Dragged Across Concrete

Anchored by three brilliant central performances, Dragged Across Concrete is an interesting, unpredictable movie that presents two plots that feel like we’ve seen them before and then zigs when we expect it to zag.

Troy Kittles is the standout, and I will be looking out for more work from him. Zahler is really carving out a niche for himself, and his confidence as a director and a writer is off the charts.

In the end, though, this movie will probably be overshadowed by the Gibson stuff, i.e. the inciting incident and, to be honest, just the casting of Gibson in a movie, but it deserves a watch as it is an incredibly fresh take on a familiar story packed with humour, tension, violence, and made with confidence.

What are your thoughts on Dragged Across Concrete?

Dragged Across Concrete had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival in September 2018 and is making the festival rounds, but does not have a US release date as of yet.