Violent Ends – Review

After a crippling farming crisis hit during the 1980s, the Frost family turned to trafficking coke up and down the Arkansas River. When they dove into meth, the family put themselves at odds with each other over control of the product streams. Now, it is 1992 and the family’s actions are rampant, pushing cocaine, meth and using force and fear to keep local townsfolk in check and the law on their toes.

But, with two sides to the family focusing on their respective drug trades, the Ozark Mountains are not big enough to contain the strain and violence that comes with money and power. Lucas Frost (Magnussen) however has turned away from the rest of his family, preferring hunting and the quiet life. He has found his match in banker Emma Darling (Shipp) and plans to marry her, declaring his love of her in any fashion she desires.

He visits his father Ray (Riedy) annually on his birthday, this year bringing him some deer jerky and the news that he is not going to come around his family anymore. Ray doesn’t like this. At the same time, getting out of prison is Sid Frost (Dale), all around thug and asshole, ready to make his mark on the world again. Things are likely about to heat up, as loose cannon Sid charges headfirst at other family members and criminals alike.

Lucas talks about recent events with his sister Tanya (Yiagazis), who is married to Tuck Whitehead (Stahl), another local town hoodlum that used to work for the Frost family. The film introduces these players and many more members of the never-ending Frosts, and events bubble up until a violent development rips Lucas’ life apart.

Now, he must confront his family as a whole, and may not be escaping the life he wanted to leave behind. Who are his real allies, and what can he do to stay alive, as well as punish those that have wronged him?

Covering familiar ground isn’t always a bad thing, and Violent Ends is good enough for those looking for bad guys getting just desserts. Outside of Lucas, it is hard to sympathize with most any of the Frost family criminals, which was the intention of the script. While not revolutionary, the film is quite well presented visually, along with solid acting and a decent enough story. If you can handle the violence aplenty, give this one a shot.

Billy Magnussen must have enjoyed being able to show his acting talent, and his sympathetic character sticks out from the rest of the family. Magnussen plays ‘braindead idiot’ so well in other features and roles that I always figured he must be a pretty damn good actor, and this helps prove that case.

The universe can be awful cruel…