White Boy Rick has some astounding talent on display and is painstaking in its authenticity

THE result of an unstable, blue-collar upbringing (a gun dealing father, absent mother and smack addicted sister) Rick Wershe joined a drug gang then turned rat at the age of 14 in 1980s Detroit, slap bang in the middle of a crippling recession and crack epidemic.

A byproduct of his integration into these societal dregs, it’s no wonder he became a prolific drug dealer soon after.

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This true, yet relatively unknown story shows just how much a young boy can be used and hung out to dry by the system.

Director Yann Demange (’71) gives an unflinching look at the hypocrisy surrounding his life and abandonment - but spends too long warming up and occasionally loses focus of where the real story is.

It’s painstaking in its authenticity and there is some astounding talent on display (Matthew McConaughey when he gets warmed up obviously - and Bel Powley giving it all she’s got as Rick’s sister) but it loses track in the last half hour and misses the crux of what makes the good bits good.

White Boy Rick: 106mins (15)

★★★☆☆