Title: Dragged Across Concrete
MPAA Rating: R
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Starring: Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter
Runtime: 2 hrs 39 mins

What It Is: During the investigation and subsequent interrogation of a suspect detectives Ridgeman (Gibson) and Lurasetti (Vaughn) take it all a little too far. This leads to their suspension from the force without pay. Without that steady income the two fall in with some rather nefarious characters from the deepest underbelly of the city. They’ll get what they were looking for the real question is are they prepared fully or otherwise for the impending journey.

What We Think: With his last two films Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99 we got layered, brutal storytelling. This film lacks in the layers, and with that makes the brutality come off as shallow and unearned. I want Vince Vaughn to keep working with Zahler because despite the subpar script he gets a ton out of him. Gibson has always been a capable actor, here he’s not given much and Zahler makes him look a little better. Let’s get to the elephant in the room and shoot it straight…this movie is too damned long. This length creates a huge pacing issue. I almost fell asleep a few times in this film.

Our Grade: D+, The cardinal sin of boredom is committed. It is committed with extreme prejudice. This is not typical of what I’m used to from Zahler. This is far below his quality. Maybe skip this. I can’t really recommend a film that’s over 2 and a half hours and feels closer to five hours. I’m not such a fan of Mel Gibson but he is good here and shows that he still has some chops. I can’t wait to see what Zahler does next. Hopefully, it’s a bit more organized and less boring.