Movie review - Devil's Peak

Devil’s Peak **1/2 (out of 5) (NR) Some actors are able to radiate menace with an intensity beyond what one might expect from their physical stature. Steve Buscemi and Joe Pantoliano come to mind as scrawny fellows who can play scary psychos or brutal, calculating crime lords convincingly. Same for Jackie Earle Haley and Billy Bob Thornton. Both are featured in Devil’s Peak, though Thornton’s the only one maliciously poised to lash out at any moment throughout on the slightest provocation. He’s the meth king of this small Appalachian town. It’s the family business. Tradition lives on.

The protagonist here is Thornton’s son (Hopper Penn, Robin and Sean’s offspring), a high-school dropout working at his daddy’s garage, which is a front for the dealing, and a laundry for the profits. The kid is really too gentle for that life, aspiring to win the hand of a local lass well above his station (social, not service). Both fathers disapprove vehemently, largely because they’re polar opposites on the legality and respectability spectrum. His junkie mother (Robin Wright) is more supportive…for whatever that’s worth. Same for Haley as the town’s benign sheriff.

Thornton’s little empire starts unraveling, landing just about everyone in various types of danger. Problems and attempted solutions escalate, creating plenty of tension, building to a climax with some welcome surprises. Robert Knott’s script, based on David Joy’s novel Where All the Light Tends to Go, serves the cast well and keeps viewers in suspense to the end. We open with the kid about to spring a trap on an approaching car, then spend most of the rest learning who’s in his sights, and why gunfire seems imminent.

It's a quiet little drama for the most part, with moments of violence threatened or occurring periodically. The sets are suitably grungy for the tale. Director Ben Young wastes little time or effort, telling the story efficiently, yet ensuring that all with dialog establish what they must to show some chops while advancing the plot. Not a great film, but certainly intriguing enough (as is usually the case with Billy Bob’s projects) to warrant a look.

(Devil’s Peak opens in select theaters (St. Louis not included) 2/17/23, and On Demand nationwide as of 2/24/23)