Arkansas (film)

Arkansas is a 2020 American thriller film, directed by Clark Duke in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Duke and Andrew Boonkrong. It stars Liam Hemsworth, Duke, Michael Kenneth Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Eden Brolin, Chandler Duke, John Malkovich and Vince Vaughn. It is based on the novel Arkansas by John Brandon.

Arkansas
Theatrical release poster
Directed byClark Duke
Produced by
  • Clark Duke
  • Patrick Hibler
  • Jeff Rice
  • Martin Sprock
Screenplay by
  • Clark Duke
  • Andrew Boonkrong
Based onArkansas
by John Brandon
Starring
Music byThe Flaming Lips
CinematographySteven Meizler
Edited byPatrick J. Don Vito
Production
companies
  • Hercules Film Fund
  • Rhea Films
  • Storyboard Media
  • Sprockfeller Pictures
  • Don Kee Productions
  • Media Finance Capital
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • May 5, 2020 (2020-05-05)
Running time
116 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

It was released on video on demand, DVD and Blu-ray on May 5, 2020, by Lionsgate, rather than being released theatrically due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plot

Chapter One: Boredom is Beautiful

Drug dealer Kyle Ribb is "promoted" to move product wholesale in Arkansas, part of a loose criminal organization run by a man named Frog. Kyle and his new partner, Swin Horn, meet Bright, a park ranger working for Frog. He explains that Kyle and Swin are to work under him, living on the park grounds with cover identities as park employees while they traffic drugs across the southern U.S.

Swin begins dating Johnna, a nurse who brings him to a curio shop run by an eccentric owner. Kyle and Swin receive orders from a woman called “Her” to complete a deal in Castor, Louisiana, where they deliver product to a talkative Greek man. His grandson Nick follows them back to Bright, whom he tortures for his stash of money, but both are killed in a struggle for Nick’s gun. Believing they will blamed if Frog’s organization discovers what happened, Kyle and Swin bury the bodies after Kyle returns to Castor and kills the old Greek man.

Chapter Two: Frog

In 1985, Frog – revealed to be the curio shop owner – is a West Memphis pawnbroker. He is given a supply of drugs to move, but is kidnapped by a man hired by his buyer. Frog kills the man and escapes to Pine Bluff to work for another drug dealer, Almond. Dissatisfied with his share, Frog has Almond sent to prison but amicably takes over his middleman, who later sells his wholesaler to Frog.

Chapter Three: The Bodies

In the present, Kyle and Swin discover Bright had $44,000 in cash and a suitcase full of human bones. Maintaining a cover story about Bright’s disappearance, Kyle and Swin accept another order from Her in person. Johnna visits them at Bright’s house when Barry, a man claiming to be the son of Bright's friend, arrives to inform Bright of his father's passing. Kyle sends him away, but contradicts the lies they had told Johnna.

Swin takes Kyle to the curio shop to buy a gun. Unaware Frog is the proprietor, Swin offers to sell him the bones, but Frog declines to do business with them. Johnna reveals to Kyle that she is pregnant and is aware he and Swin are criminals. Kyle tells her everything, but assures her they have no plans to leave, and Johnna and Swin prepare for their child. Barry returns and menaces Swin and Johnna, but is killed by Kyle.

Chapter Four: The Twins

In the past, Frog recruits twins Tim and Thomas to his operation. Years later, now operating out of a donut shop, Frog and the twins are approached by a Knoxville dealer’s middleman for as much product as they can gather. Handling the deal alone, Frog is double-crossed and beaten before the twins arrive and kill the middleman. Frog, learning from Almond’s mistake, leaves his operation to the twins to run themselves, retiring with a percentage of their earnings to open his curio shop.

Chapter Five: One Way Trips

In the present, Kyle and Swin intimidate Her into giving them their next package of product. Frog, who sent Barry to investigate, is determined to eliminate them, and gives Her a final package for them to deliver in Hot Springs. At the Fordyce bathhouse, the pair are ambushed by the twins. While Thomas executes Swin, Tim tries to interrogate Kyle, who realizes Frog’s identity. Kyle escapes after gouging out Tim’s eyes, and gives Johnna the stash of money to find Swin’s family in Kentucky.

Frog advises Thomas to forgo revenge, but Thomas empties his joint accounts with Frog and euthanizes his blinded brother, leaving to hunt down Kyle. Burying Tim and burning his curios, Frog calls a contact and prepares to rebuild his business, but is confronted by an injured Kyle. Seeing Kyle’s broken arm, Frog deduces that he encountered and killed Thomas. Kyle shoots Frog dead and takes his contact’s information, resigned to the life of a drug dealer. The film ends as Johnna drives alone through the night.

Cast

Production

In October 2018, it was announced Liam Hemsworth, Vince Vaughn and Clark Duke had joined the cast of the film, with Duke directing the film, from a screenplay by himself and Andrew Boonkrong.[2] Principal photography began the same month in Mobile, Alabama.[3]

Release

The world premiere of Arkansas was going to be held at the South by Southwest festival on March 15, 2020,[4][5] but the festival was cancelled amid fears of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] The film was scheduled to have a limited theatrical and VOD release by Lionsgate on May 1, 2020.[5][7] It was instead released on VOD, DVD and Blu-ray on May 5, 2020.[8]

Reception

As of August 2020, the film has an approval rating of 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 5.55/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Arkansas has an appealing low-key charm, but this character-driven neo-noir is too diffuse and derivative to leave much of an impression."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

gollark: ... no.
gollark: Probably Mithril or something on the frontend and Express or some horrible custom websocket thing on the backend.
gollark: Local*Storage*, yes; you can use IndexedDB but it is an utterly *bees* API.
gollark: But using a server is more cloudscale and would let you store more than 5MB of data?
gollark: It should be cloudscale and store the filesystem on the SERVER!

References
  1. "Arkansas". South by Southwest. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  2. N'Duka, Amanda (October 18, 2018). "Vince Vaughn, Liam Hemsworth & Clark Duke To Star In 'Arkansas'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  3. Barthomelow, Dustin (October 18, 2018). "New Clark Duke film 'Arkansas' stars Vince Vaughn, Liam Hemsworth and John Malkovich". The Fayetteville Flyer. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  4. Aziz, Neha (February 24, 2020). "World Premiere of Hannibal Buress: Miami Nights and Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman Join the Film Festival Lineup". South by Southwest. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  5. Foutch, Haleigh (February 25, 2020). "Exclusive 'Arkansas' Poster Teases the Star-Studded SXSW Mafia Movie". Collider. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  6. "SXSW 2020 Has Been Canceled Following Coronavirus Fears". BuzzFeed News. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  7. Newton, Tanner (March 15, 2020). "Duke's 'Arkansas' set for May 1 release". Hot Springs Sentinel-Record. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  8. Menta, Anna (May 5, 2020). "'Arkansas' Is Now on VOD, Starring Liam Hemsworth as a Southern Dixie Drug Dealer". Decider. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  9. "Arkansas (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  10. "Arkansas Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
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