San Francisco Chronicle
Most of (The Crime Boss)... just falls flat, despite individual scenes here and there that work.
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The Crime Boss
Two low-level drug runners (Liam Hemsworth and Clarke Duke, who also co-writes and directs) double-cross their boss (Vince Vaughn) in this crime thriller co-starring John Malkovich and Vivica A. Fox.
Kyle (Hemsworth) and Swin (Duke) are supposed to be blending in, but Swin finds himself in love with a local girl (Eden Brolin) while Kyle begins to fly dangerously close to the sun in trying to uncover who his boss, Frog, really is. Feeling threatened by the trio, Frog moves to make an example of them.
The Crime Boss was released in the US under the title Arkansas. It's based on the novel Arkansas by John Brandon.
Less2020Rating: MA15+115 minsUSA
CrimeThriller
- Director:
- Clark Duke (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Andrew BoonkrongClark Duke
- Cast:
- Liam HemsworthClark DukeVince VaughnJohn MalkovichVivica A. FoxEden BrolinChandler DukeMichael Kenneth Williams
The Crime Boss | Reviews
Los Angeles Times
Unexpectedly fun, drawing you through its world of not-very-good-at-this criminals, low-lifes and people who want little more than to just hang about with verve and panache.
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The New York Times
Clark Duke’s film takes an unusual perspective on a familiar genre but is weighed down by its dull, uneven pace.
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The Guardian
As a collection of smart-mouthed southern ne'er-do-wells (The Crime Boss) amuses, but as a showcase for colourful 70s menswear, it excels.
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Empire Magazine
(The film) not only squanders some good talent, it's a tragic waste of a fine book.
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Variety
What doesn’t work so well is the last stretch, which aims at a more mournful, serious tone than relatively breezy earlier events have earned.
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A.V. Club
The performances in Arkansas—including Hemsworth’s and Duke’s—are excellent across the board. And the script features some wonderfully old-school hardboiled dialogue, like when Her says she likes boys like Kyle and Swin, “Who don’t get hung up on having a long life.”
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Slant Magazine
Leaving aside a hackneyed third-act development, which provides some pathos that isn’t wholly earned, the film’s insistence on keeping the stakes low throughout is probably its key strength.
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Rolling Stone
“I always suspected that I didn’t want the desirable things in life — women, cars, houses — the things people use to chisel out a tidy philosophy of life. I was just as pleased to get drunk or drink a bunch and not get drunk.” If those words speak to you, Arkansas is a movie destination that won’t disappoint.
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RogerEbert.com
That kind of gallow’s humor defines the surface tone of “Arkansas,” which often feels like a riff on “Breaking Bad,” only now it’s more about how sad it is to be poor white trash.
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The Crime Boss | Release Details
The Crime Boss is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Prime Video and Apple TV and Prime Video Store.