Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Arkansas Blu-ray Movie Review

This 'Fargo' doesn't go far.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 17, 2020

They (whomever “they” may be) reportedly tell young would be scribes to “write what you know”, and in that regard Arkansas offers a setting if not an actual subject matter with which co-writer and director Clark Duke should be familiar. Duke is in fact an Arkansan, which probably helped with creating a supposedly realistic milieu for this film, but the fact that Arkansas deals with some low grade drug dealers might (hopefully) indicate that Duke is not immune to positing speculative fiction at times (Duke actually "confesses" in a supplement that his grandfather was a real life member of the so-called "Dixie Mafia", but doesn't go into any detail). Duke has had a number of at least somewhat well remembered supporting appearances in everything from The Office: Season Nine to Kick-Ass (and Kick-Ass 2) to Hot Tub Time Machine (and Hot Tub Time Machine 2). Perhaps realizing that a career built out of offerings with 2 in their titles might only go so far, and no doubt with that oft repeated feeling from actors that “what I really want to do is direct”, Duke attempts to stretch out a bit here, offering a tale of rural intrigue and subterfuge. The film has a number of marquee stars, including Liam Hemsworth, John Malkovich and Vince Vaughn (in addition to Duke himself, of course), but some overly mannered writing arguably gets in the way of some of the performances.

Arkansas is based on a novel by the same name by John Brandon, and so one must assume that Mr. Brandon is responsible for the rather odd concatenation of character nicknames in this piece. While focal character Kyle (Liam Hemsworth) at least has a pretty normal moniker, he’s surrounded in one way or the other by the likes of Swin (Clark Duke), Frog (Vince Vaughn), Almond (Michael Kenneth Williams), Bright (John Malkovich) and Her (Viveca A. Fox). That supposedly helps to give “flavor” to the proceedings, along with back roads locations that supposedly put perceived “grit” into things, but from both writing and directorial standpoints, Arkansas may be too cartoonish to ever deliver the same visceral combo platter of crime and snark that, say, Fargo was able to.

Kyle's voiceover early in the film announces that he works as a drug dealer for Frog, though he’s never actually met the man (the film isn’t especially discursive in terms of its “reveal” of Frog’s identity to the viewer). He is “promoted” to Arkansas by a middleman named Colin (Chris Mullinax) to help with drug running out of that state , and soon meets his new partner Swin, who is making the journey there with him. A mishap with their truck brings them into potential danger with a park ranger named Bright, until, that is, Bright reveals that he, too, is in the employ of Frog. Bright helps to set Kyle and Swin up “undercover” as workers in the park, though they’re actually transporting goods to various southern locations.

In doing some background research on the source novel in preparation for writing this review, it appears that Brandon’s book is split into chapters featuring different narrators or at least points of view, which probably accounts for this film itself offering interstitial “chapter headings”, with Chapter One devoted to introducing Kyle and Swin, and later Bright, while Chapter Two kind of upends everything to travel back to the 1980s and begin introducing the backstory of Frog, who is initially shown as the owner of a pawn shop. He begins by selling bootleg cassette tapes (hey, it was the 80s), and then almost by chance matriculates into the drug trade.

The film’s “chapters” continue to ping pong between these two stories, at least tangentially if briefly weaving them together when it turns out Frog is running a pawn shop very close to the park the guys are working out of, but I’m not sure the gambit is helpful to either narrative. We already know that Kyle and Swin work for Frog, without knowing who he is or what he looks like, and Frog’s backstory would seem to almost make him the putative focus of the tale, and yet he’s resolutely a supporting character when you get right down to it. Suffice it to say that in present day time, Swin’s boneheadedness at a drug deal set up by an enigmatic associate of Bright's (and by extension Frog's) named Her ends up spelling disaster for the duo, not to mention a cascading series of killings. In the meantime, Swin has rather improbably begun a romance with local girl Johnna (Eden Brolin, Josh’s daughter and James’ granddaughter), and as the saga develops, she becomes pregnant. A large cache of hidden cash at Bright's home also plays into the mix, and unsurprisingly some perhaps understandable subterfuge on the part of the boys comes back to haunt them.

The making of featurette included on this disc has a lot of talk about Duke wanting to create something "new" in terms of depictions of "eccentric" Southern characters, but the fact is, you've probably seen characters at least somewhat like many of the folks populating this narrative in any number of other films. There is probably a great film to be made about the "Dixie Mafia", especially considering Kyle's early voiceover comment that per Southern tradition, the gangsters in that region indulge in organized crime that "is not all that organized". Unfortunately, Arkansas is too bifurcated and disorganized itself to hit its bullseye, but it does feature some passingly interested performances, for those who may be fans of various cast members.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf liked Arkansas even less than I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Arkansas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arkansas is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The IMDb has no technical data on the shoot, but I uncovered some social media posts which state this was captured with RED cameras, and I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. Whatever narrative issues the film may have, Duke acquits himself quite reasonably as a rather confident stylist here, and many of the scenes offer some unusual lighting or grading choices, along with a kind of slightly dowdy Southern Gothic feel at times. Some of the flashback material is kind of buttery yellow, and that same approach is offered in a major scene presenting the mysterious Her. Both sunny outdoor material and some well lit interior scenes, as in the supermarket sequence where Swin meets Johnna, offer a natural looking palette and generally great detail levels. Some of the most dimly lit material can look a tad murky at times (see screenshot 9).

Arkansas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arkansas features a nicely immserive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that can be subtle at times, but which delivers some really good surround activity in several outdoor scenes, as well as other moments where things get a bit out of control. The film's enjoyable score also comfortably fills the side and rear channels. Dialogue is cleanly and clearly delivered, and voiceover is anchored front and center and always easy to hear.

Arkansas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Clark Duke


• Making Arkansas (1080p; 13:58) has some enjoyable interviews with members of the cast.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 4:35)


• "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1080p; 3:04) is the song that's performed in the film.

Additionally, a DVD and Digital Copy are included.

Arkansas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I really wanted to like Arkansas, but I'm not sure the decision to follow what is evidently the novel's structure really works. Fans of this cast may well find this at least an agreeable time killer if no great masterpiece. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.