Kimber Myers
What was a charming quirk of a Nick Offerman character on a beloved sitcom is something far less endearing when transplanted to this grim crime thriller. After his love of meat, Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson is perhaps best known for his antipathy toward government (ironic, given his position working for the city of Pawnee). Meanwhile, in Sovereign, the hatred of Offerman’s Jerry Kane for any institutional authority — whether it’s the police, the bank, or a local judge — is something far more sinister. His trademark mischievous giggle is weaponized, and it’s unsettling to hear coming from this man who doesn’t see himself as bound by the laws of the United States, despite living in the state of Arkansas.
Instead, Jerry views himself as a “sovereign citizen,” and he imparts his extremist philosophy onto his teenage son, Joe (Jacob Tremblay). Jerry has wild conspiracy-fueled beliefs and arcane (incorrect) knowledge of U.S. law that he attempts to use to manipulate his way out of trouble. He travels across the U.S., sharing his anarchic wisdom in donation-based seminars with people hungry for ways to succeed outside the system. Joe appears to be his dad’s ideal student in his homeschooling, but he is desperate for connection with anyone else his age and longs to have the means to survive in the outside world, which is challenging given his father’s isolationist approach toward life.
Meanwhile, Jerry’s actions have attracted the attention of Chief of Police John Bouchart (Dennis Quaid), who understands what these extremist views often lead to. His own son, Adam (Thomas Mann), has just become a cop — and a new dad — and John has plenty of advice for him in both his professional and personal life, including that his new baby should be left to cry it out rather than be consoled.
Even if Sovereign didn’t begin with a 911 call from its final act, its conclusion feels inevitable, especially with the title card that proclaims that it was inspired by a true story. There’s no Hollywood ending here; instead, Sovereign’s story about an anti-establishment father who has a stash of guns and brings his son to the shooting range can only end in one way. What’s less clear is what writer-director Christian Swegal thinks of the actions on screen and what drives these characters.
After co-writing the script for the reviled Taraji P. Henson vehicle Proud Mary, the filmmaker makes his directorial debut with Sovereign. This script lacks any investment in why all this happens or what it all means. It presents the story of the Kanes without any insight into Jerry’s motivation for why he believes all of this or what the larger impact of these beliefs is in the real world. It isn’t interested in a deeper exploration into either these characters or their analogues off screen. There’s a bit of bothsidesism at play; Jerry’s ideas lead him and his son into precarious situations, both financially and physically, but the film feints at the idea that the system sucks too with its moments from the younger Bouchart’s time training to be a cop and the elder’s cold approach to parenting.
Sovereign is well-made and well-acted (especially by Offerman and Tremblay) in what appears on screen, but it refuses to explore more than these imagined characters in this particular moment. It takes a timid approach (which I kinda get, given the large number of weapons the Kanes and their real-life brethren own), refraining from going even an inch beyond its compelling premise into something more. Swegal appears to have the ambition to make a better, bolder movie, but he pulls his punches with Sovereign.
B-
“Sovereign” is in theaters and on demand Friday.
