“White Boy Rick” is a biographical piece telling the sad story of Richard Wershe Jr, a teenager caught up in the mix of undercover law enforcement and the violent culture of the streets of Detroit. While the great Matthew McConaughey is the name and face you’ll recognize, the unequivocal star of the film is young Richie Merritt, who portrays Wershe as a typical urban teenager growing up amidst the decay and downward spiral of the Motor City.
Set between 1984 and 1987, we are immediately introduced to the father and son team of Richard and Ricky Wershe (McConaughey and Merritt) who share both a first name and a penchant for hoodlum activities. It may be politically incorrect to label them white trash, but that’s exactly what they are. Richard operates in the illegal gun trade, and uses his fifteen-year-old son as an assistant. It’s through this mechanic that Ricky gets involved with a local African-American street gang, where he earns his titular nickname.
Director Yann Demange masterly displays the city of Detroit as a perilous looking place. The movie opens in the winter, and a snow covered menacing metropolis that reeks of poverty and crime is before us, with the city itself looking every bit the part it is portraying. The Wershe family has been living here amidst an endless cycle of poverty. When Ricky asks his father why they stay since nothing good has ever happened in Detroit, Richard advises that “A lion don’t leave the Serengeti.”
The story follows Ricky and his involvement with the gang, as well as federal agents that want to use him as an informant, despite him being a minor. The agents, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rory Cochrane, are typical government officials that care little about the lives they are affecting in pursuit of the recently declared War on Drugs, with high arrest rates and mandatory sentencing that makes a person better off murdering someone than getting pinched with the wrong amount of crack.
Bel Powley and Richie Merritt in “White Boy Rick”
The story is told in such a way that we feel for the Wershe family, despite their illicit behavior. Richard is a struggling single father, trying his best to care for Ricky, and his drug addicted daughter Dawn (Bel Powley). We get an inside look at the decline of Detroit, once a powerful metropolis reduced to a crime riddled haven. The gentrification of neighborhoods is explored, and Ricky’s quick acceptance in the black community shows that poverty and crime don’t surrender to color. We watch the journey of fairly innocent teen Ricky becoming full fledged criminal White Boy Rick. The corruption of the police force and agents is at play throughout. “Listen, this Detroit.” Ricky’s friend in the gang explains. “If you ain’t on the take, you getting your ass took.”
I was shocked as I watched and quickly discovered that Matthew McConaughey is more of a secondary character. He’s great in the role of Richard Sr., and like his character in “Dallas Buyers Club” looks perfectly at home in a period piece from decades past. Likewise, Bel Powley plays Dawn and does an excellent job with the handful of scenes she’s given. Richie Merritt steals the show, and its amazing to read the teenager was making his first acting appearance, and was championed for the role by McConaughey himself.
“White Boy Rick” is a solid movie. It’s well acted and the setting is great. It has little to no replay value, but is worth checking out.
