Dragged Across Concrete

Dragged Across Concrete is, at its heart, a simple movie. Two cops put on a lengthy suspension for roughing up a suspect in custody decide to rob a criminal to cover their living expenses, and things go pear-shaped. And yet, the script and direction complicate this simple set-up with logic issues, a lack of enjoyable characters, and a narrative that has more stuffing than a Build-A-Bear store. And yet, it's still kind of captivating, because of some bold choices in direction and character development. At 2 1/2 hours long, this is too much movie by at least 30 minutes. There are so many sequences drawn out for no reason, and I'm not talking about building tension or atmosphere. There's a scene where Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn are on a stakeout and Vaughn is eating a sandwich. We see him eat most of the sandwich in real time. This is not necessary, and no rational person can argue it is. The movie is full of scenes like this, giving us every second of the most mundane of situations. And even scenes that are plot-heavy, we get long, uncut sequences where we don't need them. Do we need to see every second of a U-turn as Vaughn and Gibson approach the bank being robbed? No, we do not, but the movie is going to give it to you. I'm all for building suspense and atmosphere, but it is possible to swing the pendulum too far in that direction and spoil whatever suspense or atmosphere is being built by wasting time. The movie is also plagued with a cast of characters that are impossible to cheer for. I'm not against movies with morally ambiguous characters (or even morally broken) as long as the story being told is good, and by and large, DAC's story is fine, But for people who need someone to root for, it will be a dealbreaker. Everybody has blood on their hands here; the difference is the degree. And there are some serious logic gaps. The whole plot kicks off because Gibson and Vaughn get caught on video abusing a suspect in custody. The problem is, the movie sets up this doesn't take place when it was filmed (2018), as everybody has flip phones ... and yet, they got caught on crystal clear, high-resolution video from a flip phone. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. But ... it's still a decent movie, and that rests largely on things that seem contradictory to the issues it has. While the direction is incredibly self-indulgent in regard to the length, it is memorable in how it captures the action. There are no slick stunts or choreographed sequences. The gunfighting has a touch of realism to it; shots aren't missed for plot convenience purposes, but because these are real people shooting guns. And when shots hit, it's messy (perhaps a little TOO messy in one sequence, but it gives the moments impact, that's for sure) and debilitating. The only music to be heard is on car radios and in the background; there is no score whatsoever, which means the story has to carry the weight instead of music manipulating your emotions. It's a bold choice and it doesn't always work in movies, but it works well here. And then there's Gibson's and Vaughn's characters. The policy brutality incident that kicks off the plot has elements of racism to it. This could be a vector for the movie to Make A Statement, either stating the obvious (racism is terrible) or glorifying the cops' behavior because the end justifies the means. The movie does neither, and for that, it's kind of bold; whether you, the viewer, condone or condemn them, the movie doesn't care. It's here to say this is a thing that happens, and it has consequences. The closest the movie comes to saying anything about it is when Gibson, who is the one who physically abused the suspect, is being suspended by his boss, who tells him that maybe he's spent too long in the streets and it's hardened and warped him. It's an acknowledgement that he's losing his empathy and humanity, but also an acknowledgement that this happens to some cops, and it's a broken system. And then it moves on, because the incident is just a flashpoint. This is a tragedy in the classical sense; men brought down by a moral flaw. Desperation, greed, resentment, and how they deal with it (or fail to). That's the story. It definitely won't win people over looking for Lethal Weapon or John Wick, and if the movie's failure to fully condemn the main characters' actions that kickstart everything is a turn-off, it won't win you over either. But as a straight-forward tragedy of men who have let themselves down and make the problem worse, I think it works well enough.