As much as White Boy Rick evokes a time and place, Demange is not up to par in crafting a cohesive narrative, especially compared to the freneticism of ’71. The plot gets lost as the film hurtles towards its ending and things happen very quickly, an effect that might be purposefully bewildering to fit with where Rick’s life ends up but mostly serves to muddy events. A late desperate move on Rick’s part forgets his age and status within the broader criminal enterprise, and requires an amount of charisma that Merritt might one day possess, but not yet. If White Boy Rick is going to avoid the big questions its story implicitly poses, it needed to be much tighter in its execution and make the omission worth it. Instead, Demange fails to satisfy both masters with this competent but frustrating outing. C+