White Boy Rick (2018)

My Review

“White Boy Rick” is a crime drama movie based on the real life story of a 14-year-old teenager in 1980’s Detroit who became the youngest FBI informant in history before transforming into a major drug dealer and later receiving a life sentence. Director Yann Demange never brought this film to its full potential due to weak directing, mediocre production values, and bad writing. The atrocious screenplay was written by Andy Weiss, Logan Miller, and Noah Miller, based on the life of Richard Wershe Jr.

The cast includes Richie Merritt in the title role, Matthew McConaughey and Bel Powley as his parents, Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie as his grandparents, Brian Tyree Henry as the police detective, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rory Cochrane as FBI agents, and Eddie Marsan as a drug dealer. This was Piper Laurie’s final film role in a career that went back to 1950, when she co-starred in Universal Pictures’ “Louisa” starring Ronald Reagan and Spring Byington.

“White Boy Rick” was a box office bomb for Columbia Pictures, Studio 8, Protozoa Pictures, and Sony Pictures Releasing. It was primarily filmed in Cleveland, Ohio.