Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn star in the latest offering from writer and director S. Craig Zahler, known for his gritty horror style and violent films.
Mel Gibson stars as Brett Ridgeman, an old time cop nearing the verge of retirement and struggling in a changing world, while Vince Vaughn stars as his partner Anthony Lurasetti, a much younger cop. The pair find themselves suspended without pay after the two were busted via cell phone video being a little too heavy handed on an arrest, with their faces all over the media. With money running low and wanting to escape the ever worsening neighborhood that he lives in, Mel Gibson‘s character Brett Ridgeman decides to take a turn and dive into the criminal world, taking his partner with him.
Apparently Zahler is known for his slow burn movies, something I wasn’t aware of heading into this film, and I soon found out as Dragged Across Concrete is excruciatingly slow. Long drawn out scenes and a slow story pace coupled with weak storyline really let this film down. The plot is thin, and the character development is super poor. Zahler tries to make you feel some sympathy for these characters, mainly by throwing in some physical disabilities to the characters loved ones, but it just falls flat. The only person I had a little sympathy for was Lurasetti, as he was dragged into this mess by his greedy partner.
Then there is the acting! It was atrocious, especially Gibson, a veteran of the industry, I feel he was phoning it in. Scenes just felt awkward and the dialogue was delivered so stiffly. Dragged Across Conrete is a big let down, to be honest. I think the best performance came from one of the bad guys, a violent criminal who had very little lines, but delivered a great performance, even with a fully masked face.
I think it’s only saving grace was the final battle, which picked up the pace a little, but was still quite drawn out. However, it was good to see an action scene that wasn’t just consistent jump cuts and fancy effects. But that’s about all I can say on the positives of this film. It aimed high but fell very flat. Dragged Across Concrete is not only the title of the film, but also a great description of the viewing experience!
Find something better to do with your 2 and a half hours.