White Boy Rick
Short description
White Boy Rick is a crime drama set in Detroit during the 1980s, at the height of the crack epidemic and the city's drug war. It centres on Richard Wershe Jr., a teenager from a working-class background who is recruited by law enforcement as an undercover informant while still only fourteen. The arrangement brings results for the police, but it also draws the boy steadily into the drug trade, where he eventually operates as a dealer in his own right. When he is no longer useful to the authorities who cultivated him, he is left to face the consequences alone, leading to his arrest and a life sentence. Matthew McConaughey plays his father, Richard Wershe Sr., with Richie Merritt as the younger Wershe, alongside Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bel Powley, RJ Cyler and Rory Cochrane.
The film was directed by Yann Demange, following his 2014 debut '71, and written by Noah Miller, Andy Weiss and Logan Miller. It was produced by Darren Aronofsky, Julie Yorn and Jeff Robinov, and released in September 2018 with a runtime of 111 minutes.
Against a budget of about 29 million dollars, the film took roughly 26 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from around 49,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4 from about 1,200 votes. A critics' rating of 6.1 from 156 reviews places it a little below both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the last week of filming in Cleveland, work on the film had to be stopped twice due to shootings in the area near the set.
- The film's plot unfolds in Detroit, Michigan, while filming took place in Cleveland, Ohio.
- During the events leading up to the court hearing, a police officer named Gil Hill is mentioned a couple of times (although he is, of course, never shown on screen). This is the same Gil Hill who would later gain fame and popularity as Axel Foley's boss in the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise (1984, 1987, 1994). After retiring from the Detroit Police Department, he entered politics as a member of the Detroit City Council, and later its chairman. He was involved in the "White Boy Rick" case during his time with the police.
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