Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Dragged Across Concrete Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 14, 2019

Getting “dragged across concrete” might not be that objectionable in the long run if the dragging is relatively brief and if it isn’t accompanied by what might be called Tarantino-esque commentary from whoever is doing the dragging (or in fact being dragged). Dragged Across Concrete is a film with some visceral content, and a slow burn approach that pays decent dividends for the patient, but that patience has to include tolerating an arguably way overstuffed running time (close to three hours) and a penchant for ridiculously flowery language that doesn’t always seem to suit the hard bitten characters who populate the film. For those who are fans of writer and director S. Craig Zahler’s previous entry, Brawl in Cell Block 99, there are some interesting connections, not necessarily limited to the sharing of star Vince Vaughn. Both films document men struggling desperately to rejigger the vagaries of fate, making what are from an objective standpoint completely idiotic decisions, decisions which nonetheless within the context of the film’s story seem at least somewhat understandably motivated. In the case of Dragged Across Concrete, there are actually at least two (and arguably significantly more) guys involved in a rash of bad behaviors. The two focal characters are policemen Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn), who have the bad luck to be caught on a cell phone video roughing up a suspect, which leads to their suspension without pay by their superior Calvert (Don Johnson in what amounts to a cameo). Both men are in the throes of family relationships that need some special navigating. Lurasetti is planning to propose to his girlfriend, Denise (Tattiawna Jones), while also wondering how he’s going to be able to support her (and this aside and apart from his suspension). Ridgeman, on the other hand, has an ostensibly more settled situation with his wife Melanie (Laurie Holden) and daughter Sara (Jordyn Ashley Olson), though things are not entire a bed of roses: Melanie is seriously ill with multiple sclerosis, and the less than opulent neighborhood the Ridgemans live in is rife with near gang activity, leading to his daughter being harassed.

The trials and tribulations of Ridgeman and Lusaretti quickly intersect with a couple of other characters, including ex-con Henry Johns (Tory Kittles), a guy who has just gotten out of stir but who ends up considering returning to a life of crime when he gets home to find his mother Jennifer (Vanessa Bell Calloway) turning tricks and his wheelchair bound younger brother Ethan (Myles Truitt) trying to cope with the situation. Though it takes a while to get there, the underlying plot conceit of Dragged Across Concrete is that Ridgeman and Lusaretti decide to make a little “side money” (now that they’re not getting paid to be cops, at least for a little while) by monitoring what is obviously an impending robbery masterminded by a guy named Lorentz Vogelmann (Thomas Kretschmann), a villain who has in the meantime hired Henry and another guy named Biscuit (Michael Jai White) as part of his “team”.

Several crises of conscience ensue, and Dragged Across Concrete virtually wallows in moral shades of gray as Henry and Biscuit figure out Vogelmann may not be an entirely honorable “employer” (as if there could be any doubt), and Ridgeman and Lusaretti end up getting more than they bargained for by attempting to horn in on the illegally obtained booty from the heist Vogelmann has arranged. There’s a nicely detailed ambience of decay and turpitude running through the film, but the pace, while not really “glacial”, can be awfully slow at times, interjected by brief bursts of testosterone that may in fact come off as even more energetic simply due to their contrast with some of the talkier bits. But it is those very talky bits that may drive some viewers to distraction. This is a film where ostensibly “less fortunate” characters virtually erupt in flows of near poetic language, something that adds an air of unreality to the proceedings that my hunch is some may find an odd match to the gritty goings on being documented in the film.

Performances are geniunely winning across the board here, though Zahler’s tendency to focus on characters with either physical or emotional problems can be wearying, even when the characterizations themselves are excellent. There’s some kind of cheeky subtext at play here as well, especially with regard to Gibson’s well documented brushes with political incorrectness. Calvert warns Ridgeman and Lusaretti that it’s easy in this day of cell phones to be labeled a racist, with the implication being that maybe Ridgeman and Lusaretti haven’t given in entirely to their “dark sides”. What this formulation may intentionally obscure or in fact leave out is that it’s the behavior caught on cell phone video that might lead to that labelling, not just some “knee jerk” reaction to a scene taken out of context.

Note: In just the latest example of "different reviewers, different opinions", my colleague Brian Orndorf was considerably more impressed by Dragged Across Concrete than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Dragged Across Concrete Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dragged Across Concrete is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The IMDb lists the Red Weapon Helium as the camera of choice for this shoot. I'm frankly not that familiar with this particular model, but as I've discussed in many previous reviews, for whatever reason I tend to appreciate Red captured material more generally consistently than I do Arri Alexa captured material, and that preference continues with this release. Despite some extremely heavy grading like the almost cobalt blues bathing the first scenes of Ridgeman and Lurasetti, general detail levels and especially fine detail levels are often excellent. Zahler and cinematographer Benji Bakshi favor a neo noir style which frequently utilizes either low light or backlit moments, something that can occasionally slightly mask detail levels. Even a closing sequence that is misty and either lit or graded toward dirty yellows provides surprising amounts of shadow detail and general detail levels. This is actually a film I'd be very interested to see in 4K UHD, so maybe Lionsgate's seemingly random choices of what to release in that format will provide that experience sometime down the line.

Dragged Across Concrete Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dragged Across Concrete features a generally immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one which attains good surround activity courtesy of several scenes involving action of some sort, even "action" like the rather forceful coupling between Henry and a girlfriend that rather shockingly begins the film. A number of outdoor scenes have nicely placed ambient environmental effects, and the requisite showdowns provide bursts of LFE which are also often quite energetic sounding. The florid dialogue is delivered without any issues whatsoever on this problem free track.

Dragged Across Concrete Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Moral Conflict: Creating Cinema That Challenges (1080p; 7:02) is a pretty standard issue EPK with decent interviews.


• Elements of a Crime (1080p; 40:46) is a much better, more in depth, multi-part piece that comes with a spoiler warning.

Dragged Across Concrete Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dragged Across Concrete has some really interesting aspects to it, but I personally probably would have responded more strongly to it had it been shorn of at least a half hour or so, not to mention had it featured dialogue a little less on the self consciously "arty" side. That said, this provides real showcases for its cast, and despite its length, the film delivers regular and substantial jolts of energy. Technical merits are solid, and Dragged Across Concrete comes Recommended.