A first film from an actor turned director is always an interesting thing to study. In particular, what kind of movie they choose to make their first time out. For Clark Duke, he really seems to have wanted to honor his cinematic influences, namely the Coen Brothers. Arkansas, his directorial debut, is the sort of crime tale, with occasional bursts of dark humor, that Joel Coen and Ethan Coen made a career out of, especially in their early days. Duke, however, ends up with a much more uneven effort than the Coen Brothers, even if it does display the sort of chops that will serve him well in the future. The movie is a crime thriller, centered on two low level thugs who get caught up in a wave of violence. Kyle (Liam Hemsworth) and Swin (Clark Duke) are the two gangsters, who are soon to begin living under the thumb of an Arkansas-based drug lord named Frog (Vince Vaughn), someone they’ve never actually met. Frog’s lieutenant Bright (John Malkovich) sets them up with a place to live, a day job as junior park rangers, and they begin work as low-level drug couriers during the night. Quickly, Swin settles into his own routine, helped out by beginning a relationship with Johnna (Eden Brolin), which goes against the orders from Bright and Frog to blend in and not carouse with the locals. While this is evolving, Kyle is determined to figure out who Frog really is, conflicted by his work, on some level. One inept decision leads to another, upending their little world, bringing about death, and putting their lives at risk. Soon, a confluence of events lands Kyle, Swin, and Johnna directly in the crosshairs of Frog, who thinks they’re a threat to his empire. That couldn’t be less true, but for the drug kingpin, there’s no other choice to be made. Duke directs and co-writes the script with Andrew Boonkrong. Steven Meizler handles the cinematography, while the score comes from Devendra Banhart. Rounding out the cast are the likes of Vivica A. Fox, Brad William Henke, and Michael Kenneth Williams, among others. Clark Duke knows how to direct, that much is quickly clear. There are clear action sequences here, something you might not have expected out of the actor. In front of the camera, he also turns in one of his better performances to date, while Eden Brolin has […]