By Any Means (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Elegance Bratton

Starring:  Mark Wahlberg, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, David Strathairn, Josh Lucas, Nicole Beharie, Giancarlo Esposito

By Any Means covers some of the ground as Mississippi Burning in the sense that the most effective way to gather information is to pound it out of the racist locals.  This happened in 1964, when By Any Means opens with New York mobster Gregory Scarpa Jr. (Wahlberg-doing his best goombah) is cracking skulls, knees, and anything else in order to obtain the whereabouts of three missing civil rights workers.  Cut to two years later, FBI agent Wayne Strider (Mateen II) moves from Chicago down to the rural Mississippi town where he grew up attempting to solve a series of race-related crimes.  The locals won't talk to the FBI and especially a black agent, so the FBI teams Strider up with Scarpa to get a little rough...off the record of course.

It turns out Scarpa turned state's evidence a while back and works for the FBI as an informant.  He does the dirty work, and the FBI keeps the mob off of Scarpa's back.  Strider wants to do things by the book, and we know what Scarpa is all about.  By Any Means is in a way a more violent version of Green Book, but it is a study of contrast in styles (old school vs. new school) more so than a study of race relations.  Will Scarpa learn to be kinder and gentler or will Strider decide to take the gloves off when his family is attacked and his best friend is burned to death when the KKK sets his house on fire?

We know how this will go, and while By Any Means isn't a deep movie, it's involving during its 105-minute running time.  It turns out to be fairly close to the truth, with the addition of some dramatic license taken to consolidate time, but as far as true stories go, it sticks close to what actually happened. 

I enjoyed the savage energy of Wahlberg, while Mateen II is a big guy trying to work within a system that simply won't allow cooperation.  By Any Means won't be an awards-season juggernaut, but it achieves its desired result and it works on its own oddball level.