Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

Elevator Pitch: Ridgeman and Lurasetti are two detectives who have been suspended for their brutal treatment of  suspects in a drug bust. They both need money and Ridgeman has some inside information about a possible robbery which, if they do the job right can improve their finances. They stake out a possible villain for days. Meanwhile Henry Johns, a young criminal recently released from prison and his friend Biscuit are recruited to drive a stolen bullion van which has been purchased by the villains with the proceeds of a number of vicious robberies by masked men. The same masked men rob a bank. A number of people are killed, and Henry and Biscuit realise that they are on the list as they drive off into the night in the bullion van. So Henry does not choose to tell the masked bank robbers that they are being followed by a car, which we know contains Ridgeman and Lurasetti.

Content: There is sex and female nudity as Henry and a young prostitute get together. Thereafter we see a bit of Henry’s life, his mum and his disabled brother. The cops carry out the drug raid and spend a lot of time being told off by their boss. They sit in their car for what seems like for ever, occasionally following people about. Meanwhile we see masked men carrying out robberies, usually killing the victims. I watched it on cable and it seems they might have cut some of the extreme violence in the bank. But once the police confront the villains… The driver swallows the van key so the pitiless robbers have to get it back. Oh dear.

A View. This is the first of the three films directed by Zahler to actually get a rating at all in America. The lives of several people are included in the story, including a lady who is shot in the bank. I’m not sure this is really necessary but the intent is that we know all about these people, all of whom are villains except for the lady in the bank. We quite like the policemen and Henry and his friend but none of them are aware of the pitiless murderers the bank robbers are. So once they are on the same page the tension is relentless. In my view well worth a watch but be prepared for a very slow hour.

There is a lot to gained from a decent heist movie so here are three of my favourites: Out of Sight, Heist (2001) and the original The Italian Job .