“This Detroit. If you ain’t on the take, you getting took”
Like the stories of many other one-time drug lords, the story of White Boy Rick is a complicated one.
Richard Wershe Jr. a.k.a White Boy Rick was the youngest F.B.I. informant in U.S. history. By the time he was 16-years-old, Rick had lived a life that would take others decades to accomplish.
The film starts out with Rick Jr., played by Rick Merrit at a gun show with his father, Rick Wershe Sr. played by Matthew McConaughey. We learn early that Rick Jr. and Rick Sr. we’re in the gun business. The two would purchase guns from trade shows and sell them on the streets for profit.
The profit wasn’t big enough to sustain their family and before you knew it, Rick Jr. was selling more than guns all under the nose of his father, and for a short time, the police.
After getting in bed with local drug kingpins, the Curry brothers, Johnny “Lil Man” Curry played by Jonathan Majors and Leo “Big Man” Curry played by rapper Y.G., Rick Jr. found himself entrenched in the street life.
His dreams of money, cars and women wouldn’t last long. While heading home from a party one night, Rick was approached by FBI agents Frank Byrd and Alex Snyder played by Rory Cochrane and Jennifer Jason Leigh and given an offer that was hard to refuse. In exchange for keeping his father out of jail for selling guns illegally on the streets, Rick Jr. would assist in drug buys.
His work for the FEDS eventually caught up with the young teenager and he ended up with a bullet in stomach as a result. His work for the FEDS was enough to lock-up the Curry brothers and associates.
While recovering from his gunshot, he found out that he had become a father. With a new child to take care of and no other options, Rick turned back to the streets. Using contacts he made while working for the Curry brothers, Rick went back to work on the streets.
His rise to the top was shorter than leprechaun. Police raided his father’s home and offered Rick one more chance to save himself. All he had to do was agree to cooperate with authorities and take down another group of dealers. HIs agreement was supposed to keep him out of jail.
The exact opposite happened. With Rick’s help, the FEDS we’re able to takedown rogue cops and politicians all tied to the drug game. The agreement he made with the police was far from solid. Rick was named as an informant in the news and eventually he would be convicted of selling more than 650 grams of crack. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Rick was sentenced to that term when he was 17-years-old. Overtime, everyone he gave information on would be released. Yet Rick sat in prison. He wouldn’t be paroled until 2017.
“White Boy Rick” film did a decent job of telling the story of a conflicted teen who tried to make it out of poverty he was surrounded by using the methods that were afforded to him.
Merrit did a great job playing the role of White Boy Rick. Matthew McConaughey did an amazing job as playing Rick Sr. Watching him try to mend his relationship with his daughter while forcing her to rehab at home a hard, but needed moment in the film that helped make Rick Sr. seem less like a terrible human being.
Overall, “White Boy Rick” did a good job highlighting the jungle that Detroit was in the 80’s and what it took for anyone to survive it. The story itself dragged some and I would’ve loved to hear more about how Rick and Boo, the youngest Curry brother became best-friends. I also think the connection between his sister, played by Bel Powley would’ve been detailed more, especially as she spiraled into drug addiction.
“White Boy Rick” is a good watch. Probably better to watch at home on a small screen with friends than in a theater.