This film tells the story of two suspended police officers trying to rob criminals because of lack of money.
S. Craig Zahler is also a director and screenwriter. He is good at portraying the friendship between tough guys and male characters. Female characters are often the motivation for the protagonist's behavior.
The incident took place within two days and two nights and was divided into two story lines, three protagonists, two policemen and one bandit.
Police officer line: Ridgeman and Lurasetti were suspended indefinitely from work because they were photographed by the public as suspects of rough treatment of ethnic minorities (a crisis that changed the protagonist’s fate). R's wife is sick, her daughter is harassed by community hooligans, and urgently needs money to move (behavioral motivation); L tries to propose to his girlfriend and needs money to cover the expenses of the future family (behavioral motivation). So R decided to eat black.
In terms of motivation, neither R nor L has a very necessary reason to put themselves in danger. When their purpose is only to create a better life, but they carry out criminal activities that may endanger their lives and even their families, such reasons cannot convince the audience. The director seems to be aware of this problem, and has repeatedly added L's hesitation about black eating black in the story. R also complained that if L didn't wake himself up while stalking, nothing would happen. But this motive flaw was concealed to a certain extent after the bank robbery happened. When R and L caught a glimpse of the tragedy in the bank, out of human conscience and the duty of law enforcement officers, they regretted not being able to prevent the tragedy in advance. Their motives were mixed with the spirit of the righteous police to avenge innocent people, and the demand for robbing gold was greatly reduced. At least from the audience’s point of view, these two policemen are required to act on our behalf.
Gangster line: Johns had just been released from prison, and he arrived home to find out that his mother was earning living expenses through prostitution, and the family had already defaulted on debts for half a year. Therefore, he participated in criminal activities under the introduction of Fa Xiao. In comparison, J's motives are much more adequate. As a black man with a history, he can only get his family's life back on track by taking such a desperate way.
When two policemen followed the criminal gang’s van and came to the door of the bank, the two story lines merged.
The story frame is divided into three acts:
Cause: An introduction to the family relationship and plight of R, L, and J until R and L get on the bus in the middle of the night.
Passing: Stalking and bank robbery, until R and L's cars arrive at the robber's exchange place.
Result: the garage shootout and the ending of the characters.
This is a templated movie story structure. The audience felt that the 159-minute film length was too procrastinated because the director added enough details. This meticulous and cold narrative technique is the embodiment of his personal style.
Jennifer Carpenter contributed a moving ten-minute wonderful performance. The slightly neurotic mother played by Jennifer Carpenter is a sideline in the film. In the process of watching the movie, I thought about why the director wanted to add a new character who died soon in the middle of the film, describing her life in detail. After reflection, her participation is very necessary. The bank robbery scene is a moral judgment on the characters in the film. The audience needs to empathize with the victims of hijacking in the bank, and the purpose is to let us distinguish who is the good person and who is the bad person. R and L are always expressing that they have no law enforcement powers as interdicted police officers, but they may be able to stop all this by calling an anonymous police call in advance. They are good people. J and his hairpin also expressed dissatisfaction with the cruel behavior of the robbers, so they are also good people. Although it is illegal to rob accomplices and eat the black, the plot needs to be judged by moral empathy to strengthen the audience's experience. Only when the personalities of the three protagonists stand, can the ending of each character have tension. Therefore, without the role of Summer, the audience would not be able to substitute themselves for the sufferings of the bank staff, and the story of the three protagonists would become very pale.
The director tried to include his thoughts on social issues such as American public opinion and racism in the film. Excerpt from a conversation between R and L and Sheriff Calvert:
CALVERT: Being branded a racist in today's public forum is like being accused of communism in the 50's. Whether it's a possibly offensive remark made in a private phone call or the indelicate treatment of a minority who sells drugs to children. The entertainment industry, formerly known as the news needs villains.
(To be regarded as a racist by the public today is like being regarded as a red in the 1950s. Whether it’s an offensive remark on a private phone, or any rude behavior towards ethnic minorities who sell drugs to teenagers , The entertainment industry once known as journalism needs such negative news.)
LURASETTI: There's certainly nothing hypocritical about the media handling every perceived intolerance with complete and utter intolerance.
(When the media handles every intolerable issue with zero tolerance, it is not hypocritical.)
CALVERT: It's bullshit. But it's reality. (This is nonsense, but the reality is like this.)
S. Craig Zahler's work has a lot to learn from. The story is very simple, but he can fill in a lot of details and render the atmosphere, making the audience enjoy it. When the kidnapped woman crawled towards L without saying a word, it was the most frightening part of the film.
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