Director: John Swab
Writer: John Swab
Stars: James Badge Dale, Ben Foster, Michael Mando
Synopsis: Based upon extensive research with law enforcement, gangs, inmates, migrants, and addicts, an exposé on fentanyl trafficking, and its effect on all walks of life.
When viewing a cops and robbers action film, there is an ever-present expectation of the next story beats. We’ve all seen many action thrillers before and each has genre presumptions for the film to follow. The beauty of John Swab’s King Ivory is the push against those presumptions to deliver something unexpected and calculated instead of the expectations of conventional storytelling.
That’s not to say the film is actively pushing against those conventions simply to be performative. Instead, the filmmakers take those genre elements and manipulate them ever so slightly, and they feel revolutionary. If the cops make a big case, they have a metric ton of paperwork to do. A massive action set piece ends with no death and no dialogue. All the action takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That doesn’t sound like much, but when these films begin to feel interchangeable, little updates make all the difference.
James Badge Dale, Ben Foster, and Michael Mando co-star as the headliners in each of their separate stories, which combine as a Traffic-esque whole. Dale plays Layne West, a Tulsa drug cop looking to shut down fentanyl distribution in the city. Foster plays George “Smiley” Greene, an Irish enforcer fresh out of jail. Mando plays Ramon Garza, the Mexican cartel’s local rep who works with the Indian Brotherhood head Holt Lightfeather (Graham Greene) to distribute drugs as well as working as a coyote, ferrying Mexicans over the border into the US.
West works closely with his partner Ty (George Carroll), but has to deal with the rebellion from his teenage son, Jack (Jasper Jones), which leads to Jack’s addiction to fentanyl. Smiley navigates the ins-and-outs of the drug trade, while dealing with his unpredictable uncle, Mickey (Richie Coster), and his protective mother, Ginger (Melissa Leo). Garza tries to redeem a deadly mistake by allowing immigrant Lago (David Bacrena) to work for him, while attempting to get medicine for his daughter.
This film could have easily gone down as a “message movie” covering the dangers of fentanyl, the failings of government, and society as a whole. There is a distinct opportunity for the film to take that moral stance, but it instead decides there are no good solutions. In fact, it makes the argument the drug distributors have as much at stake as anyone else. A shocking amount of empathy and understanding is given to people who would otherwise be viewed as the criminal contingent. No act is viewed as criminal for the sake of evil. Even an act of cold-blooded murder (by more than one character) is seen as necessary, or in a specific case, completely justified.
But it’s not all just subversion. When the action ramps up, Swab knows how to stage a solid action scene. A late film hotel shootout circumvents the usual “you shoot, I shoot” standard and adds extra wrinkles, like shooting through hotel walls, or bystanders viewing all the action. Despite a fair amount of shootings, stabbings, and death, the film has very little interest in carnage or gore. Death is a part of the story, but it’s not anything it wants to dwell on, unless that’s the precise point. A scene with a fentanyl overdose and the incredibly human response is a particular highlight.
While each character might not have the most development, the actors portraying them are dynamic enough to give bits of color where there otherwise would be none. Mando specializes in playing a character of deceiving sensitivity, and this film is no different. Luckily, Mando is really good at it. Foster underplays almost every moment, but he makes it work. Equipped with a tracheostomy, he barely talks, and when he does, hardly speaks above a whisper (all of his lines are subtitled). Dale might be one of the most underrated, consistently working actors, able to embody both police officer machismo, and parental sensitivity from moment to moment. Each actor carries his segment wholeheartedly.
Of the supporting players, Coster has the most to do, and adds more to it than any other. Leo has one scene of any substance, and tears into it, but has little to do otherwise. The recently departed Greene is always a welcome on-screen presence, if only for a few minutes of screentime. If the film has an issue, it’s Jones, unable to rise to the occasion of the more seasoned actors around him. His character should be the corrupted innocent, but he is far too annoying of a character to connect to. That’s not only Jones’ fault, as the screenplay doesn’t do his characters any favors either. King Ivory subverts as many expectations as possible, while still maintaining the ability to entertain as an action thriller. That fact alone is worth the price of admission.
