VIDEO : ?White Boy Rick? Tries Hard To Make A Fun Movie Out Of A Sad Story

The makers of White Boy Rick seem desperate to want to turn this story into a fun one. A vivid slice of working-class life and fetishized tackiness of the kind we never get tired of watching.

Titular 15-year-old White Boy Rick is played by real-life teenager Richie Merritt. The first-time actor combines youthful innocence with authentic tackiness in a perfect mix .

Rick Sr., played by Matthew McConaughey. His junkie sister, Dawn, is played wonderfully by Bel Powley. Dawn?s mom is gone, having abandoned the family years before, for unknown reasons.

It?s a fun scene, a dysfunctional American Gothic, and White Boy Rick has more like it.