I understand when a film that’s based on a true story tries to spice up that story a bit. It’s still entertainment, after all. Real events can be interesting, even awe-inspiring, but they are rarely cinematic. That said, it’s not usually a great idea to take the interesting true story, the one that inspired you to make the movie in the first place, and force it to take a backseat to the made-up characters and events you think would be better. That is exactly what By Any Means does.

Meanwhile, the real events the movie is based on feel more like background noise. Mafia hitman Greg Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg) is brought to Mississippi by the FBI to use his brutal tactics to find a killer and paired with strait-laced agent Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) as his handler. Scarpa was a real person, and it’s his story the film is supposedly telling. However, the fictional Strider is the central character of the film. He deals with the racism of 1960s Mississippi, he and Scarpa beat up a few people, and he proves to his superiors that he can be a real, valuable FBI agent. That’s basically the entire film. The “Based on a True Story” tag feels stretched to the point of incredulity.

I’m not even sure what purpose using a made-up perspective character serves. The film clearly wants to be a brutal crime thriller about a mafia hitman working his way through the Ku Klux Klan in order to solve the murder of a civil rights leader. It ends up actually being about a Black FBI agent learning that sometimes...torture and murder are okay? I think it’s supposed to be empowering, but it is a weird message. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for an action hero carving his way through the bad guys. It’s just that watching a morally upstanding guy who believes in the rules and decency slowly being brought down by racism and bad influences is kind of rough, and not in the though-provoking way I’m guessing was intended.

The plot, pacing, and general structure of the film are also incredibly predictable. Some of the foreshadowing is so obvious that it may as well be in neon lights. Nothing the characters do is ever shocking, not even when they are torturing people, because the plot is so thoroughly paint-by-numbers. Even the violence and fights aren’t that thrilling, mostly due to the odd restraint the movie shows. There’s blood and people get plenty of beatings, and worse, but none of it feels visceral or brutal. It’s just part of the scenery, only there to move the characters to the next plot point.

Credit where it’s due, however, the acting is top-notch. Wahlberg is basically kept to the side until he needs to be snarky or threaten someone, but he plays his part well. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, though, is the absolute core of the film. His performance is so subtle and believable that it almost makes me forgive the plot for focusing too much on him. This is an excellent role for him, and he delivers brilliantly.

Sadly, excellent acting does little to overcome an overly simple plot and toothless violence. By Any Means isn’t bad, but I simply can’t shake the feeling that I’ve missed out on a much more interesting movie in favor of one that plays it a little too safe. The irony is that Wahlberg’s Scarpa spends so much of the runtime preaching about the importance of breaking rules and defying expectations. If only the movie had listened.