← Back to Reviews
in
2021's Down with the King is a drama that may or may not be a sequel to another film that has an intriguing premise; unfortunately, it never really goes anywhere and takes its sweet time doing it.
The drama is centered on a famous rapper named Money Mercury Maxwell, who decides to take some time away from the business and travels to a remote logging community in rural Massachusetts, where he hopes to come up with material for a new album. Money hooks up with a local farmer named Bob and begins a relationship with a dreamer who works in a hardware store. As the film slowly progresses, it appears that Money likes this small town and is thinking about walking away from the music business permanently, but real life finds its way to the country and reminds Money that he can't afford to walk away from the business.
This is a confusing film that never makes clear its genre or intent. The film initially comes off as sort of a cinema verite documentary about a real life rapper, but then we learn that this farmer Bob who becomes his BFF was the star of a 2015 drama called Bob and the Trees, about a farmer who like golf, weed, and gangsta rap. This, of course, had me immediately wondering if the reason this film had me confused and bored was because I hadn't seen Bob and the Trees.
Even though the best parts of this film revolved around Money's relationship with this good natured farmer named Bob, it didn't arouse my curiosity about seeing Bob and the Trees nor did it make this film very interesting. Scenes of money butchering cattle, looking for skunks, and playing with live cattle were just not that interesting and when the story takes a dark turn during the final act, sucking all the sympathy out of Money's character, I really wanted to check out, though I had been checking my watch long before that.
There's an interesting movie in here somewhere, but this rambling and pointless film never really engaged me. Freddie Gibbs does display some charm as Money and Bob Tarasak is one of the most likable characters I've seen on screen in a minute, but this film is basically kind of dull and pointless.
The drama is centered on a famous rapper named Money Mercury Maxwell, who decides to take some time away from the business and travels to a remote logging community in rural Massachusetts, where he hopes to come up with material for a new album. Money hooks up with a local farmer named Bob and begins a relationship with a dreamer who works in a hardware store. As the film slowly progresses, it appears that Money likes this small town and is thinking about walking away from the music business permanently, but real life finds its way to the country and reminds Money that he can't afford to walk away from the business.
This is a confusing film that never makes clear its genre or intent. The film initially comes off as sort of a cinema verite documentary about a real life rapper, but then we learn that this farmer Bob who becomes his BFF was the star of a 2015 drama called Bob and the Trees, about a farmer who like golf, weed, and gangsta rap. This, of course, had me immediately wondering if the reason this film had me confused and bored was because I hadn't seen Bob and the Trees.
Even though the best parts of this film revolved around Money's relationship with this good natured farmer named Bob, it didn't arouse my curiosity about seeing Bob and the Trees nor did it make this film very interesting. Scenes of money butchering cattle, looking for skunks, and playing with live cattle were just not that interesting and when the story takes a dark turn during the final act, sucking all the sympathy out of Money's character, I really wanted to check out, though I had been checking my watch long before that.
There's an interesting movie in here somewhere, but this rambling and pointless film never really engaged me. Freddie Gibbs does display some charm as Money and Bob Tarasak is one of the most likable characters I've seen on screen in a minute, but this film is basically kind of dull and pointless.