Merely seeing an actor’s body of work isn’t always enough to predict the kind of stories they’ll want to tell if they step behind the camera. Watching Jordan Peele’s sitcom and sketch-com work doesn’t exactly feel like the lead-up to becoming the man currently leading the charge for black horror in the mainstream. Ben Stiller’s frequently-frothy leading man roles feel a bit out of step with his penchant for tearing the entertainment industry several new ones as a director. And in the case of today’s film, seeing Clark Duke as the nerdy Jacob in Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (the only close-to-watchable part of that entire flick) certainly didn’t prepare me for his first step into writing/producing/directing to be this Southern-fried trailer park neo-noir.
It’s somewhat of a change in tack, but one that seems to be a decent fit for him, both behind and in-front-of the camera. As part of the main duo alongside Liam Hemsworth, his brand of awkward confidence works nicely alongside the rather prominent Coenisms in the story. And the performances he gets out of the others are pretty solid too. John Malkovich’s turn as a park ranger on the take of a local drug kingpin is nicely entertaining, Michael Kenneth Williams brings some of that Omar energy to the screen that fits well, and Vince Vaughn’s recent resurgence as a dramatic actor off the back of some winning collabs with S. Craig Zahler seems to be holding strong as his portrayal of the kingpin gives him plenty to chew on.
The film itself looks and sounds pretty damn good, showing that Duke has some solid potential as a filmmaker in his own right, aided by DOP Steven Meizler’s framing and a pretty choice soundtrack courtesy of The Flaming Lips. However, I’d still argue that this is more proof-of-concept for a further career than as a film in its own right, as the influences are worn rather loud-and-proud through the story. It carries a definite Fargo or No Country For Old Men feel in how its crime yarn is structured, along with the more Western-tinged aspects of Breaking Bad, but the way that same ‘built on misunderstandings and subterfuge’ framework manifests here is a bit obvious.
I get that, to a degree, a lot of stories across media rely on some form of information being kept away from the characters’ attention, but it feels particularly forced and contrived here. And it all starts with Vaughn as the kingpin Frog, who gets an entire ‘chapter’ devoted to his come-up. Maybe it’s just me, but when so much of the plot and character actions are motivated by how none of them know that he is actually Frog (a fact made laughable by the poster design), it makes a lot of the later turns look like major cases of “The fuck did you think was gonna happen?”. There’s also how, aside from individual acting moments and maybe a stray quip or two, this isn’t exactly the most engaging work I’ve seen, with another case of feeling like it’s going through the genre motions that, despite its frequent monologues about philosophy of life and crime, isn’t as thoughtful as it lets on.
I won’t say this is bad in any substantial way, as the acting combined with the production aesthetic definitely maintains a level of interest, but it’s not particularly special. Clark Duke could very well be on the cusp of a new act of his career in cinema, and I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for what he turns in next, but this film gets a passing grade at best.
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