Most Bone Tomahawk thing you'll see all week: Dragged Across Concrete

Craig Zahler has no one to blame but himself for what will probably be a career of making movies that aren’t as good as Bone Tomahawk. He got off to a solid start with a formulaic, uneven, and ultimately forgettable prison yarn called Brawl in Cell Block 99. The whole thing felt like a build up to a special effect that wasn’t even that good. That’s why I watched this movie? So you could do that? Dragged Across Concrete feels like a do-over. This is what I expect from the guy who made Bone Tomahawk.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2019/03/23/most-bone-tomahawk-thing-youll-see-all-week-dragged-across-concrete/

I was eyeing this one but the choice to cast Gibson is a bit of a turnoff…

You have a way of making me unsure if you’re actually recommending a movie or not. Ultimately though, this doesn’t really sound like my cup of tea. I think.

Was there any reason for Jennifer Carpenter’s scenes in this movie? I’m not mad they’re in there, since one of them gives Fred Melamed a chance to be the absolute treasure he is, but I can’t imagine the movie changing in any way if she was cut. It’s like Zahler plugged in a couple of scenes from something else he wrote just to give her something to do.

I think so, but I can understand how it’s might feel unnecessary since it’s so external to the main plot. But for me, it further ratchets up the brutality of the European and his weirdos. Before, we’d only seen them kill randoms, at first in self-defense, then in cold blood. It’s almost like Zahler is goading us. “How much does this bother you? Okay, what about this?” So he finally gets us to care for a character in a remarkably short time and then subjects her to that fate, which is absolutely heartbreaking. I mean, really, you should be mad those scenes are in there. I kind of am. It’s blatantly emotionally manipulative, like giving Laurie Holden MS or putting Tory Kittle’s little brother in a wheelchair.

I would also argue it belongs in there not just for the emotional impact, but for how well written that scene is at Jennifer Carpenter’s front door. I love watching that scene unfold, with your first thoughts being that it’s something insidious, because that’s the world Bulwark seems to be. Is there something going on behind the door other than what we think? Why is she so insistent? Is she trying to trick someone? Why isn’t Zahler showing us the husband’s perspective? I think part of the point of that scene is that the world of Bulwark teaches you to expect the worst.

But you’re definitely right that it’s extraneous to the plot, and in that regard, it wouldn’t change anything if it were cut. But it’s exactly what I mean when I wrote that the running time is used to establish brutality and poignancy. Jennifer Carpenter’s scenes are the most extreme examples of both.

Yes! I was fixated for some reason on how he was holding his hands. Very proper, very firm, with his fingers decisive and rigidly straight and orderly. That guy really is something else.

-Tom

“Manipulative” is exactly the word I kept thinking. I get that all movies manipulate you in one way or another, but this just seemed clumsy with how quickly Carpenter’s character came and went. I don’t even remember if she had a name or not. If Zahler just wanted us to be upset, he could have just had the baddies kick a baby carriage and saved some time.

I absolutely agree that the hallway scene was great, though. I would watch a film about that character.

Do you remember the baby’s name? I sure do. Gah.

To be fair, though, I don’t remember the main character’s names either. I think Mel Gibson was Bridgeman, or something weird like that?

You just did. :)

Did you see Brawl in Cell Block 99? Am I alone in being underwhelmed by that?

-Tom

Part of me wants to see this because bone tomahawk was good.

But part of me doesn’t, because bone tomahawk was rough to watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed Bone Tomahawk and I’ve been keeping an eye on all of the directors subsequent movies. I actually enjoyed Brawl in Cell Block 99 even more than Tomahawk mainly due to the fantastic turn by Vince Vaughn. His physical transformation in that movie was mightily impressive and I think he’s strangely underrated as an actor.

Unfortunately, Dragged Across Concrete didn’t do too much for me. There was just too much slow in this slow burn. Scenes seemed to drag on endlessly rather than breathe naturally. I found myself often twiddling my thumbs and I didn’t really engage with the two main leads. The action, when it finally came was still fantastic though.

I’ve never been able to stand him in comedy, but I thought he was pretty much the best thing about True Detective Season 2 and should do more drama. Maybe I’ll check this movie out.

I should probably watch Brawl again. I do love the scene where he fights a car. I’m pretty sure he even wins.

How did you feel about, say, the scene between Tory Kittles and Michael Jai White about the birthday cake T-Rex with the candy corn teeth? Is that the sort of slow burn you lost patience with? Because I can definitely understand not being engaged with that sort of character development if the characters aren’t working for you. But for me, that’s exactly the kind of stuff that made Dragged Across Concrete work.

If you can stomach a pretty extreme horror movie, I think it’s worth checking out Asylum Blackout. Zahler didn’t direct it, but having seen his subsequent movies, it’s obvious that it’s hit script.

https://www.amazon.com/Asylum-Blackout-Anna-Skellern/dp/B008B9JU76/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2OP6AZP505SN3&keywords=asylum+blackout&qid=1553408877&s=gateway&sprefix=asylum+blackout%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-2

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available for streaming anywhere.

-Tom

You’re not alone. I did ultimately like it, but I’ve never heard a criticism of it that I can really argue with. It’s easily the worst of his three movies.

Now I have to go watch Asylum Blackout, which I just found out exists.

Loved reading the discussion here about the film. It’s hard to find any writing about this movie that isn’t steeped in the film or filmmaker’s politics – I haven’t seen it yet, but it makes it hard to parse whether the film is intentionally political. A few of the things I read made it seem like Zahler was some kind of MAGA chud who is ‘rallying against political correctness’. It doesn’t seem to be the case here, but it can be so tricky to divorce art that engages with these kinds of topics from the larger discussion happening.

Honestly, I only vaguely recall that scene. I think I’d stopped paying 100% attention by that point. The long periods of time spent in the stakeout had worn me down. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the movie - I did and it’s not that I found it entirely boring, it definitely wasn’t. I just felt that it needed much tighter editing. I found it all a bit too flabby, with scenes that lasted too long without much of interest going on. I think Zahler is awesome though. Even his lesser movies are still excellent. I’ll eagerly anticipate his next one.

I’m also really happy that he’s making these types of movies as they seem to be rare these days. Adult films with adult themes and dialogue. No punches pulled. I sincerely hope he continues and refines his process.

Thanks for the recommendation - I’ll definitely check this out.
As an aside you’re the one who got me into Fleabag after stumbling across a post you made about it on QT3 so you have plenty of “recommendation points” already :)

I think I know the exact scene in the movie that you’re referring to:

The scene where the two detectives are getting a dressing down from the Police Captain due to excessive use of force.

I’ve not read anything about the political slant of the movie. It’s definitely not been mentioned in any of the other movie forums/communities I frequent. I think it’s a shame to judge a movie based on any implied political stance - especially a movie such as this one which is so obviously pulp fiction. I’d advise you to disregard anything like that and try to take the movie on its own merits. On having seen the movie I honestly don’t think it was the directors intention to make a political statement.

So far I have seen three Craig Zahler films and so far it is three times 9/10. I love all three equally. He is one of the few directors who can make a long movie with glacial pace that somehow doesn’t bore me for a second. Something about his characters, writing, the way they are shot and unpredictable. I love his use of music, too.

The scene with Jennifer Carpenter was rough. I had to pause the movie for a minute. But I would not cut it for anything.

Yeah, I’m with you there. That was a great scene, but I’m not sure I accept it as a “political slant”. It’s the perspective of two characters. Just as the movie isn’t endorsing stealing money from thieves or working as a getaway driver for bank robbers, neither is it endorsing racist cops. In fact, if you wanted to cull some message from the movie – I don’t think you can, which is part of why I’m fascinated and a little disgusted by Dragged Across Concrete – it would be a tacit condemnation of Mel Gibson’s character’s actions. The very first scene when we meet him, which causes the scene with Don Johnson, then leads directly to his fate.

-Tom

“Likewise.”

Even though I absolutely despised Brawl in Cell Block 99, I’ll definitely going to check out Dragged Across Concrete. Zahler’s an uncompromising writer-director who knows who to construct top-notch tension. He’s doing his own thing, which is very cool.

As a bonus, I thought I should share his IMDB user reviews profile. This dude doesn’t hold back. Here’s his thoughts on The Revenant:

This tedious movie is a humorless, monotonous, pretentious music video that occasionally feels like a Leonardo DiCaprio showreel. It is distractingly directed by the gimmicky showman Inarritu, whose Birman is possibly the least dramatically interesting movie ever to win an Oscar.

And while a movie does not need to have have likable characters, it should at least have interesting characters, and The Revenant has neither. DiCaprio certainly looks uncomfortable in the snow, but since there is nothing to his character but his affection for the young native–a relationship that does not last very long–most of the movie has a zero dimensional character struggling with the elements with elaborate, gimmicky, cg-enhanced set pieces. Despite being played by a talented actor, the lead is completely uninteresting and his quest for revenge dull.

This is the worst movie I’ve seen in the theater since the similarly humorless, monotonous, and self-important movie, Precious. The politics are very patronizing and simple minded and lacking any depth other than the typical “we are all to blame” rehash that so many guilty and self loathing people love, as exemplified by the “you are to blame!” and truly laughable final shot.

A feature length music video full of cg tricks, but wholly lacking in characters, drama, humor, heart, and depth. Self-congratulatory, egotistic garbage masquerading as important art that will unfortunately fool a lot of people.

LMAO! I can’t wait to see what Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy) does with his blacklist Western script.

That’s hilarious! And also surprising coming from Zahler. He seems like just the sort of guy who would enjoy hoity-topity arthouse revenge pr0n like The Revenant.

Hmm, I wonder which is the better fight scene: Leonardo DiCaprio vs a bear in The Revenant, or Vince Vaughn vs a car in Brawl in Cell Block 99. They’re both pretty one-sided fight scenes.

-Tom

Wow, thanks, off to read some more. I enjoyed one thing about Revenant - visuals - so I can emphasize. Also with Birdman.