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Dragged Across Concrete

Bad bad-cops flick

Seldom does a movie’s title so perfectly describe how its unfortunate audience is likely to feel by the time the end crawls around. 

A pair of overenthusiastic cops (Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn) are suspended without pay when a video surfaces of them holding a perp down with a foot to the neck, and venture into the city’s less honorable quarters to take what they consider to be their due.

There was nothing about this movie that I particularly liked. To call it glacially paced would be an insult to glaciers. It’s mean-spirited and morose (this is called “gritty” these days), and explosively violent. The dialogue is forced, and at a self-indulgent 2:59 it’s way too long. It is, however, well crafted for all that, but will appeal mainly to those whose idea of a good time at the movies is watching a pair of has-been actors with right-wing political leanings behaving badly.

(159 min)