“There are many violent scenes and it may surprise you at how much you enjoy watching racists and murderers being beaten. There’s a special place in Hell for these so-called Christians and I felt this released my inner psychopath. Wahlberg makes Scarpa so likeable.“
Con Nats
4 toothpicks
Mississippi is a place synonymous with racism. The film opens with Greg Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg) beating a confession out of a bloodied man. It’s not long before we realise the man is a racist who gives up his fellow Klansmen and soon a car with white college students is found. You realise, you’re in the realm of reality that is Southern America.
Enter FBI agent played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who is cleverly unnamed. He is moving back to Mississippi to make a difference. A friend (Giancarlo Esposito), who is driving black African Americans to register to vote, is murdered by the Klan. The FBI realise the local police wont help, so they send in Scarpa and this agent is assigned as his ‘enabler’. That means ‘Do what he tells you.’ The instructions are coming from the very top.
Our FBI agent takes his job seriously and wants to play things by the book. Scarpa believes in the law of the gun. And soon we have the ‘Odd Couple’ trying to crack a case shrouded in silence, in a town that not only ignores a black man’s FBI credentials, but are willing to lynch him for it. At one point they even have a short MLK versus Malcolm X debate, and this debate forms a big part of the moral spine of this film.
The most shocking part of this story is that it is based in truth. Greg Scarpa was a hitman for the Colombo crime family, was an FBI informant, and hitman for them. He was known as the ‘Grim Reaper’ and the ‘Killing Machine’. This story is based on the book: Deal With the Devil: The FBI’s Secret Thirty-Year Relationship With a Mafia Killer, by Peter Lance. Scarpa’s son and sister acted as advisers, and confirmed many of his claims. Of course, the FBI has denied he was a ‘special agent’ or that a black man was an FBI agent as the instructions came from the very top of the administration and FBI.
There are many violent scenes and it may surprise you at how much you enjoy watching racists and murderers being beaten. There’s a special place in Hell for these so-called Christians and I felt this released my inner psychopath. Wahlberg makes Scarpa so likeable.
Mark Wahlberg feasts on his role as Scarpa. The make up, costumes, muscles, toothpick and New Jersey accent give him a real edge. Abdul-Mateen II plays off him brilliantly. Nicole Bahari as his wife does well with her few scenes but this is a buddy movie with a murderous edge. Director Elegance Bratton has drawn strong performances from this talented cast, and he’s directing this from the heart. He tells this story as straight as possible.
The soundtrack is notable and this film plays to your emotions. Who you support will depend on whether you think MLK was more effective than Malcolm X. The results of the investigation may help you decide. This powerful film will definitely challenge you.
4 toothpicks
Con Nats, On The Screen
