Copyright chicagoreader
Crime thriller Violent Ends is exactly the kind of movie that actor James Badge Dale is known for. He’s not even the protagonist; the film is just another one of those gorgeously photographed, patiently paced dad movies that’s made the actor’s career. Here, the action is set in the Arkansas Ozarks, and Dale plays Sid Frost, a member of the Frost crime family that runs the area’s drug trade. The three brothers who started the business have found an uneasy peace, but their sons, including Sid, are clashing. Sid’s cousin Lucas (Billy Magnussen) is the actual protagonist: an archetypal “guy who wants out.” While he’s never joined the family business, he wants to get as far away from it as possible to start a life with his fiancee, Emma (Alexandra Shipp, who has a wonderfully sweet chemistry with Magnussen). Predictably, when Emma gets hurt being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lucas is inspired to continue his family’s legacy of violence.Violent Ends tries to invest in the family dynamics unique to this clan, which saves it from being an overly rote southern gothic revenge tale. But overall, it reaches for a greatness it can’t quite grasp. Writer-director John-Michael Powell is brilliant at building tension, and the whole thing looks incredible thanks to cinematographer Elijah Guess; his work is so beautiful that it often distracts from the content of the scenes, which sometimes run thin. Despite its emotionally stirring points and good looks, Violent Ends is still too generic to be something really special. But hey, Dale fans and dads will love it! R, 112 min. Wide release in theaters
