We’ve seen this one before. A black comedy about a robbery gone wrong that attempts to poke fun at the mega-conservatives, Stranglehold, actor Clark Duke’s second feature-length directorial effort, starts off compellingly enough before devolving into a by-the-numbers bloodbath. Call it Tarantino-lite: a rip-off that’s late to the table.
Behold: a down-on-their-luck married MAGA couple residing in small-town Arkansas (an obsession of Duke’s, it seems, considering his previous feature, Arkansas). An Army vet-turned-grocery-store greeter, Tim (Jake Lacy) keeps guns to protect his family from “the next vaccine.” Bailey (Ashley Benson) is a stripper with a heart of gold (well, sorta), underpaid by her sleazy manager (Justin Long). When Tim gets fired, they scheme up a plan to rob her place of employment. Little do they know, big-shot bad guy Roger (Ron Perlman) is there, and the money belongs to an even more dangerous kingpin. Extended shenanigans ensue.
Bailey panics as an injured Tim sits slumped inside the strip club in Stranglehold.
“…a down-on-their-luck married MAGA couple residing in small-town Arkansas…”
Its satire of small-town America couldn’t be more on the nose. In Duke’s world, it’s all gun-loving, Bible-spouting trailer trash with a thirst for titties and cash. The story, co-written by Duke with Billington Garrett and his brother, Chandler (who also stars), takes a while to get going — about 45 minutes, in fact, which could’ve easily been condensed into a zippy 20. Certain plot turns defy credulity, especially the gore-soaked, overinflated second half, which becomes an endurance test of sorts, all the way to its literally explosive finale (lots of fireworks). This film is almost so bad it’s good. It just doesn’t feel like it has the courage of its convictions, losing bite when the violence starts. Are we supposed to sympathize with its two heroes or ridicule them?
Ashley Benson plays it straight — Bailey is charming, pragmatic, but also impulsive, not above fu**ing her manager to provide for her child. It’s good to see Jake Lacy ham it up a little, relishing his conservative rhetoric with glee. Their banter, overwritten as it may be, forms the heart of the film. Justin Long similarly has a blast — perhaps a tad too much — as the strip club manager. David Arquette’s appearance as the club DJ amounts to little more than an extended cameo, albeit an amusing one (“With my sciatica, I’ll be crippled by the morning”). Ron Perlman does what Perlman does best at this point in his career — be Perlman.
Uneven, with pacing that picks up, then goes off on weird detours, acting that ranges from compellingly real to cartoonish, a fluctuating sense of humor, and a tone that lurches between comedy, drama, and gory action, Stranglehold showcases Duke struggling to keep all the balls in the air. But hey, you know what? At least the kid’s got balls.
"…almost so bad it’s good..."
