Elegance Bratton’s By Any Means delivers the same kind of satisfaction as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds: watching racists get what’s coming to them. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II anchors the film with a compelling performance, while Mark Wahlberg brings his usual swagger as a wisecracking mafia hitman.
Loosely based on a real case, the story follows FBI agent Wayne Strider (Abdul-Mateen II), who is sent to 1966 Mississippi to find the killers of a Black civil rights leader (Giancarlo Esposito). His unlikely partner is Greg Scarpa (Wahlberg), a notorious Colombo crime family hitman.
Strider plays by the rules. Scarpa definitely doesn't.
The title tells you exactly where this is headed. By Any Means evokes Malcolm X’s famous “by any means necessary” philosophy and raises the movie’s central question: How far should someone go to achieve justice when the system itself is corrupt?
The most fascinating part is that Scarpa’s involvement is rooted in a real case. He helped force a confession from a white supremacist that led authorities to the bodies of missing civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in 1964.
The movie wastes no time establishing Scarpa’s methods. We meet him bloodying a suspect until he gives up the location of the three missing men. It’s brutal, but it also sets up the film’s moral dilemma: What happens when a bad man does terrible things in pursuit of justice?
That’s when By Any Means is at its most interesting.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t always find the right balance. The tone bounces between buddy-cop comedy and serious social commentary, and the pacing can be uneven.
Wahlberg’s Scarpa is a wise guy in every sense of the word. Everything is a joke, even when the situation calls for something darker. Despite the silly combover and prosthetic nose, Wahlberg never completely disappears into the real-life hitman. It often feels like Wahlberg doing his familiar tough-guy routine in different packaging.
Abdul-Mateen II fares much better. He remains one of the best actors of his generation and gives Strider weight even when the straight-laced, do-gooder character feels underwritten.
What saves the pairing is their chemistry. Strider believes in the law; Scarpa believes in getting results. That clash of morality gives the movie its spark.
By Any Means may be uneven, but its provocative true-story foundation keeps you invested. And there’s an undeniable satisfaction in watching its racist antagonists finally get what’s coming to them — by any means necessary.
By Any Means is now playing in movie theaters.
