Review of White Boy Rick (2018) by Robert R — 17 Sep 2018

Rick is a pimply-faced white boy with the personality of someone who has been lobotomized. His dad is an amoral wasteling who needs a good bath and a big shot of ambition. His sister is a drug addicted dropout.

They all live together in inner city Detroit - about as visually appealing as parts of Baghdad! All of Rick's associates are gang-bangers who kill each other with guns sold on the black market by Rick's dad, over drugs eventually supplied by Rick.

The whole thing is observed by crooked FBI agents, and occasionally disrupted by corrupt Detroit police. The Hollywood message is that 'poor' Rick has no choice but to deal cocaine to make ends meet because his dad is an abject failure, and his options are limited by being a dropout, and living in corrupt inner city Detroit.

When the house of cards come tumbling down and everyone gets busted, dad's gun-running is overlooked. Big Sis's drug addiction is overlooked. Crooked feds do not get their come-uppance. A few crooked Detroit cops get to do the perp-walk on local tv and the murderous gang-bangers go to prison at about the same time as 'poor' Rick.

BU, they all get out years before Rick does! 'Poor' Rick serves 30 years of a life without possibility of parole sentence. Hollywoood wants you to feel bad for 'poor' Rick. Killers get off with less punishment! Illegal gun black-marketeers get off scott-free! Poor Rick spends the first thirty years of his illegitimate daughter's life behind bars for a 'victimless' crime (Oh.

Did I forget to mention her?). Yes, a victimless crime in which he is caught holding 16 pounds of powdered cocaine for sale, a few pounds of gold jewelry and driving a Mercedes sedan. Still, according to Hollywood, it is victimless.

They miss the irony that the guns, the addiction, the killings, the gangs, and the corruption is BECAUSE of the damned drugs, but, good old Hollywood wants you to pay your ten bucks, plus another ten for soda and popcorn, and allow them two hours to try to socially engineer you toward demanding sentencing that is more fair for 'victimless' criminals - or better yet- legalize drugs (although it won't do a thing to eliminate the burden of addiction on society, the crime that follows as a means of financing drugs, the black market and turf wars that result from trying to supply illegally what the government has taxed to unaffordably high prices, etc) because you feel sorry for the plight of 'poor' Rick! Good ol' Hollywood.

Always knowing what is better for society than those of us who actually live in it do. No thanks! The movie sucked. The acting sucked. And the Hollywood messaging sucks -as always!