By Any Means Review: Mark Wahlberg is having a blast as mob hitman Gregory Scarpa

PLOT: In 1966 Mississippi, a Black FBI agent (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is given an unusual assignment—to become the handler for a notorious mob hitman whom the bureau has blackmailed into helping solve the murder of a civil rights leader.

REVIEW: As wild as the premise for By Any Means sounds, there is some truth to it. In 1964, the bureau allegedly had one of its informants, Mafia hitman Gregory Scarpa (played here by Mark Wahlberg), interrogate members of the KKK in Mississippi to discover the location of the bodies of three murdered civil rights workers. They allegedly did it again two years later when Vernon Dahmer (played here by Giancarlo Esposito) was murdered, but Scarpa’s methods, which apparently included pistol-whippings and beatings, have never been explicitly detailed. Yet, it remains a generally accepted story, with one of his encounters fictionalized in Mississippi Burning, although in that movie, the Scarpa character is replaced by a Black character. However, that revolved around the first case he was involved in, with the second generally being more mysterious, which brings us to By Any Means.

If you’re looking for a movie that diligently examines the facts and presents a realistic look at what likely happened, you should probably look elsewhere. There’s no evidence that Scarpa ever teamed up with a Black FBI agent, and their actions in the movie seem more like the stuff of Hollywood fantasy than reality, with them racking up a body count of Klan members that likely would not have gone unnoticed in Mississippi at the time. Yet, the same can also be said of Mississippi Burning (although By Any Means is nowhere near as electrifyingly shot, scored, and acted), so that’s not necessarily a strike against its entertainment value.

By Any Means has some good elements, with both Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II delivering strong performances. Wahlberg, wearing a fake nose, seems to be having the time of his life as the possibly psychopathic Scarpa, relishing the beatings he dishes out, although we certainly cheer along because the people he’s beating are unrepentant racists and murderers (led by Ethan Embry, who’s done a good job reinventing himself as a character actor in recent years). To the movie’s credit, it never makes him something he wasn’t—in that his actions weren’t motivated by any sense of racial justice. He was forced into doing what he did, and indeed, Scarpa’s later years would make for a fascinating biopic. Stallone has long wanted to play him, with Scarpa orchestrating a violent mob war in the early nineties even as he was dying of AIDS.

By contrast, Abdul-Mateen has to play the “straight man,” as his FBI agent is genuinely motivated by justice, and the film does a good job showing that even though he was part of the bureau, it didn’t make his job in Mississippi any easier. Where the film goes wrong is that it too often dips its toes into fantasy, trying to give its audience a rollicking, feel-good action movie, even though the actual story ended without justice truly being served. There are extended beatings and torture scenes, with Abdul-Mateen’s character turning into a full-on vigilante in a way that feels like a Hollywood creation and sends the film down a predictable road. I had higher expectations given the fact that it’s directed by Elegance Bratton, whose last film, The Inspection, was highly acclaimed. Too often, it verges on becoming a 48 Hrs.-esque buddy movie, although it stops short of ever going too far in that direction, as the filmmakers at least acknowledge that Scarpa, when it came down to it, was an absolutely remorseless killer.

As such, By Any Means is a mainstream, very Hollywood take on a disturbing chapter of American history—one that could have been told in a more realistic and troubling way. Yet, even if it ultimately becomes too simplistic, the two lead performances are good, with Wahlberg alone having so much fun as Scarpa that you can’t really take your eyes off him. He’s not subtle, but he’s entertaining, and the same can mostly be said about this film—although it could (and should) have been a lot better.