Dragged Across Concrete

On February 1, 2017, right after finishing production of his previous film Brawl in Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler signed to direct Dragged Across Concrete, a crime thriller based on police brutality, from a screenplay he had written.[11][12] The script is 162 pages long and remained unchanged at the time of filming, and is Zahler's favorite screenplay to write.[11] The story is influenced from the film The Killing directed by Stanley Kubrick and the films Dog Day Afternoon and Prince of the City directed by Sidney Lumet, Prince of the City being one of Zahler's favorite films.[11]

Zahler is more interested in building the world of his scripts than writing the plots, and had the film touch on sensitive topics such as racism.[5] He writes to his own liking and does not care about the audience's reactions as he is not chasing a mass audience. Zahler states: "I’m aware there are lines and moments in my films and books and future movies that will land poorly for some people or get people to hate me. That is your right. I have a right to do my own vision and hope it’s enough to get me to the next one."[5] In an interview with The Daily Beast, Zahler states that the intent of the film is not to address societal ills or invoke a provocation, but to explore "splitting hairs in terms of what the difference is" between the societal issues.[13] Zahler exemplifies Brett Ridgeman, one of the characters in the film, is "an embittered guy, not really happy with his station in life, and with a heavy hand, and doing some stuff that he shouldn’t be doing, and he’s suspended" and trying to get himself out of the hole that he dug with all of these mistakes.[13] Vince Vaughn, who plays Brett's partner Anthony Lurasetti, states that Dragged Across Concrete is "not an agenda movie" but a morality tale.[14]

Dragged Across Concrete has slice of life scenes not related to the plot progression, such as Jennifer Carpenter's character Kelly Summer not wanting to leave her child for work, Vince Vaughn's character Anthony Lurasetti eating a sandwich in a car, and Tory Kittles' character Henry Johns talking to Michael Jai White's character "Biscuit" about their childhoods, and are some of Zahler's favorite scenes in the film.[11] Despite these scenes taking a lot of the running time in the film, Zahler believes that coupled with the atmosphere and the subsequent twists, the scenes result in the characters becoming more interesting than the plot.[11]

Keith Kjarval of Unified Pictures produced the film along with Zahler and Dallas Sonnier of Cinestate, Assemble Media's Jack Heller, and Sefton Fincham of Look to the Sky Films, with Kjarval's Unified Film Fund financing.[12] The project sought a distributor at the European Film Market at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2017.[7] In May 2017, Lionsgate acquired the US distribution rights to the film, and would release it through its subsidiary, Summit Entertainment.[15]

Mel Gibson, who plays Brett Ridgeman

Vince Vaughn, who plays Anthony Lurasetti

Tory Kittles, who plays Henry Johns

Vince Vaughn starred in S. Craig Zahler's previous film Brawl in Cell Block 99 as the lead character Bradley Thomas. Vaughn gave the script of Dragged Across Concrete to Mel Gibson, who worked with Vaughn in the 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge as the film director, asking him to star in the film and recommended him to watch Brawl in Cell Block 99.[14] Zahler was able to contact Gibson through Vaughn and hoped that he would star in the film.[12][16] On February 1, 2017, Gibson signed on to the film, with he and Vaughn starring as police officers that are suspended due to committing police brutality.[8]

On August 2, 2017, Jennifer Carpenter and Don Johnson, who had worked with Zahler in Brawl in Cell Block 99, signed onto the film, followed by Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Tattiawna Jones, and Laurie Holden.[8] Since Vaughn and Gibson are both well-known conservatives in Hollywood, The Daily Beast claimed this may hinder the financing of the film. However, Zahler believes they are the perfect match for their respective roles, and the studio was willing to fund the film's production after Vaughn and Gibson's casting.[13] Zahler praised Gibson for his collaboration and acting in the film. Gibson previously played a police sergeant in the Lethal Weapon franchise but the films had no bearing on the script nor the casting changes of Dragged Across Concrete.[13]

Vancouver, British Columbia, where filming took place

Principal photography on the film began in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 17, 2017[15][17][18] and wrapped on September 16, 2017.[19] Zahler wanted Dragged Across Concrete to be seen as realistic by the audience, filming an actual car collision on set for one of the scenes rather than supplemented in the editing room.[20] Shooting of the film was extremely challenging due to complex and dangerous stunts when filming a broken window, a car crash, or someone being shot.[20] Dragged Across Concrete is less violent than Zahler's previous films Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99 due to the difference in weapons and fighting styles utilized by the characters.[8]

The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Craig Zahler and his friend Jeff Herriott, having previously worked together in Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99. The duo wrote several soul pieces and recruiting the rhythm and blues group The O'Jays to sing the songs.[21][22] Zahler was influenced by jazz musicians such as Charles Mingus and John Coltrane in creating the soundtrack.[21]

Lakeshore Records released the soundtrack on March 22, 2019, in CD, digital, and vinyl formats, which coincided with the release date of the film.[23] Pat Padua of The Washington Post called some of the music pieces "slightly jarring, but they contribute to a sense of reality that is at once familiar and unsettling."[21]

Dragged Across Concrete received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, with praise directed towards Gibson's performance, worldbuilding, and the dark themes and criticism directed towards the lengthy runtime and excessive violence. Reception was more polarized on the film's treatment of racism and police brutality, with some reviewers claiming the film endorses right-wing ideology.[1][11][3][30][31]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Dragged Across Concrete holds an approval rating of 76% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads, "As grim and grinding as its title, Dragged Across Concrete opts for slow-burning drama instead of high-speed thrills — and has just the right cast to make it work."[32] On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 60 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[33]

Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film four out of five stars, writing: "in this new, bleak and often unexpectedly grand genre movie (it’s essentially a buddy-cop flick, but with operatic ambitions), the thread out of place, both irritably scratching and strangely arresting, is Mel Gibson."[34]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also rated Dragged Across Concrete four out of five stars, stating: "this is a long film, but there is something so horribly compelling about its unhurried slouch towards the precipice."[35]

David Fear of Rolling Stone awarded the film a three and a half out of five stars, praising Gibson's performance and the world-building: "Dragged Across Concrete is apt to send crime-film fanatics, especially ones who prefer their pulp nasty, brutish and incredibly long, into frothing fits of glee."[36]

Kieran Fisher of Film School Rejects praised the dialogue interactions between the detectives, Kittles' performance, and Zahler's intention to challenge the moral position of the audience, while acknowledging that the film will attract controversy: "Still, if you just want to see a great crime epic that cares more about telling a great story than promoting an agenda, you’ll want to check out Dragged Across Concrete. It’s going to be a contender for the best of 2019 when it’s all said and done, even if some viewers will feel guilty about enjoying it so much."[37]

Armond White of National Review praised it as a conservative action film, writing that it "vividly conveys the feeling of suffering, bitterness, and struggle";[38] later rating it among the 20 best films of the decade.[39]

At the 40th Golden Raspberry Awards, Dragged Across Concrete was nominated in a new category, "Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property."[40][41] WhatCulture criticized the nomination, saying that it "feels as though voters just wanted to nominate Joker for the enormous social media publicity it would generate, and then shaped a dubious awards category around it. Dragged Across Concrete is an even weirder pick, though, both because of its low-budget nature and the fact that there's not that much carnage in it. Michael Bay's 6 Underground is clearly a far worthier nominee than either of those films, given how much obvious human collateral damage is racked up amid the chaotic action sequences."[42]