It is a bleak look at Reagan Era Detroit and the drug culture spawned by the tanking economy and loss of industry. (Looks a lot like Muncie, IN when I was in school during the same period.) The movie, based on a true story, is saved from being a total downer by the performances. The cast is uniformly good, but Matthew McConaughey as Richard Wershe, Sr. and newcomer Richie Merritt as the title character are great and great together.

The movie's okay. Main character's acting is good.

Cast's performance was wonderful. Especially the main character Rick was so good.I didn't know true story. But, I was drawn into the interesting story. I enjoyed it.

A mishmash of feelings about a young man who was tortured by poverty and had few options for his own life. Still, was flummoxed that he was still referred to as a "15 yo boy" when the dates shown on the screen were inconsistent with the dialog. Lots of inconsistency including his trist with the African American wife of his friend, why? what happened? What was his motivation or is the real message he had little motivation other than whatever his life experiences offered him?