King Ivory: A Commentary on Addiction and Crime (Early Review)

Premiering at last year’s Venice Film Festival, King Ivory is a crime thriller from writer-director John Swab that features an impressive ensemble cast. The story follows Tulsa drug cop Layne West (Dale), who spends his days battling the local criminal contingent, something that hit too close to home as his son Jack (Jasper Jones) suffers from substance abuse issues. Alongside his partner Ty Grady (George Carroll) and Agent Beatty (Rory Cochrane) of the FBI, he made it his life’s mission to take down those he deemed responsible. The film is a commentary on the fentanyl epidemic as it is clear that it is a personal project for Swab. Usually only told from the perspective of the cops and criminals, this widens its scope, extending to drug users, dealers, suppliers, and the forces looking to get drugs off the streets and the criminals responsible behind bars. While it may not quite be the action film it is being billed as, its action sequences, though few, are expertly directed, gritty, raw, and put audiences in the middle of the action where the spray of bullet fire almost feel like jump scares in the midst of it all.

As mentioned, the impressive cast assembled here deliver great performances, led by Dale as West. One of the most underrated actors working in Hollywood today, the film affords him a meaty role for him to sink his teeth into. With perhaps not the showiest of roles, he undeniably delivers the best performance of the film. Meanwhile, Foster thrives playing yet another despicable villain alongside an equally despicable Leo, as George “Smiley” Greene and his mother Ginger. Meanwhile, Graham Greene (in one of his final performances) creates an imposing and menacing presence that can be felt throughout, making the most out of his considerable screentime.

Though commendable, the film offers nothing that hasn’t already been done before across several other, and better films, and, in the end, is likely to leave audiences feeling slightly empty by the end. Despite running at nearly 2.5 hours, in that time, the film fails to develop any of its characters in a meaningful way, keeping most of its characters at arm’s length from audiences. Along those lines, it either could have benefitted from more time to flesh out its characters out, or by cutting a few of them out altogether to tighten things up. Additionally, the film would have benefitted from being trimmed down by at least 10-15 minutes to help it flow a lot smoother, culminating with an abrupt finale that may leave some audiences little cold.

All in all, in spite of its flaws, King Ivory is a well made, and unfortunately still topical, film that tackles themes that continue to run rampant in the world today. However, indebted to countless far better films, it fails to emerge from its may inspirations and stand out on its own. That being said, great performances, solid action, and strong direction from John Swab amount to a crime thriller worth checking out, but it also could have been so much more.

still courtesy of Roadside Attractions/Saban Films

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/