Film Review: Arkansas

Arkansas is an adaptation of John Brandon’s 2009 novel of the same name, written for the screen by Andrew Boonkrong and Clark Duke, the latter of which is also making his directorial debut with the project. It follows two small time dealers, Kyle (Liam Hemsworth) and Swin (Clark Duke), who begin to work under the drug kingpin known as Frog (Vince Vaughn), who they have never met – at least, not being aware of his identity – and working alongside Frog’s trusted associates, Her (Vivica A. Fox) and Bright (John Malkovich). As they settle in to their new gig, a chance encounter that leaves someone dead starts a domino effect of poor choices that puts the whole operation in jeopardy.

What Duke appears to be doing here is telling, what is in many respects, a classic story of gangsters and the temptations and cycles of violence that come with power. But in placing that kind of sweeping tale in Arkansas, it adds an interesting flavor to the whole affair. You won’t see any men in fancy suits here, no glamour, none of the flash you would see from someone like a New York hustler for example. He presents a vision of loosely organized crime in the south that rings honest in its bluntness and trashiness.

Like most, I have only been familiar with Duke in the context of his comedic work. Arkansas certainly has splashes of pitch black comedy, and amusing banter, but in large part, the film keeps things relatively serious. Honestly, a little too serious at times, some of the poetics about living a life of crime don’t come across nearly as profound as I think it may have seemed in the writing process. For the most part, he handles things well. The tone is flexible, but firmly in control, the pacing is measured and methodical, and the portrait of life in the south is appropriately weird and mundane in a way that can only come from someone who has lived there, which Duke has.

The performances are solid across the board. Hemsworth does some strong accent work, and he builds an understated but believable rapport with Duke. Eden Brolin makes a really good impression as Johnna, a local that Duke starts having a relationship. Malkovich, Fox, and Michael Kenneth Williams – who plays someone that Frog used to work with decades back – don’t get much to do, but they are naturally reliable to get everything that they need to get across with limited screen time. Vaughn can play a character like Frog in his sleep, and for certain moments, it does seem like he is going through the motions, but whenever the film gives his character a big moment, he comes to play, and it’s a lot of fun to see him chew on this kind of scummy character.

It’s hard to say whether Arkansas signifies a strong potential for Clark Duke as a filmmaker. It’s a fairly simple and modest crime film that doesn’t overstay its welcome. There have been plenty of films of its ilk that explore similar themes in a more effective way. Despite its setting, there isn’t much here you haven’t seen before. But with that having been said, it’s far from bad. It’s functional, at times very enjoyable, and reasonably compelling enough on a basic story level to keep you engaged for its runtime. It even features one of the better performances I’ve seen from Liam Hemsworth. The film did not leave much of a mark on me after watching it, but if you have a couple hour to waste, there is some moments and elements of value to be found here.