Arkansas [Book and Movie]

The book Arkansas is a debut novel by John Brandon that was originally released in 2008 by McSweeney’s Publishing. It was praised by the San Francisco Chronicle in a review that compared Brandon’s style to that of Raymond Chandler, Flannery O’Connor, and Mark Twain. In 2018, Arkansas was produced as a movie. It was filmed by first-time director Clark Duke, who was born in Hot Springs (Garland County) and raised in Glenwood (Pike and Montgomery counties). In discussing the film, reviewers evoked auteur director Quentin Tarantino, the movie-making Coen Brothers, and Arkansas author Charles Portis, who was born in El Dorado (Union County). The movie was partially filmed in Arkansas, with locations in and around Hot Springs.

The darkly comic novel Arkansas is set in the rural southeastern United States and concerns a pair of drug runners named Kyle and Swin. Amid drug dealing, mayhem, and murder throughout the Southeast, some of the action is set in Arkansas cities including Little Rock (Pulaski County) and Pine Bluff (Jefferson County).

Kyle and Swin live under orders from an Arkansas-based drug kingpin named Frog, whom they have never met. The pair is tasked with moving drugs on a large scale in Arkansas and across the southeastern United States. As they attempt to complete the drug deal, it goes wrong, and the body count begins to rise. The ensuing action involves kidnappings, revenge plots, torture, and more murder. Swin comes to a bad end as Kyle becomes resigned to the life of a drug dealer.

Author John Brandon, who was born in Bradenton, Florida, was not personally familiar with the state of Arkansas. He has said that the novel was titled Arkansas based on a comment by one of the characters, a fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks, whose opinion was that the state had a “cozy, tucked-away and…underdoggish quality.” The writer claimed in interviews that Arkansas was a hard place to categorize because it is partly Southern but also has qualities of the West and Midwest, so it lent itself to a number of fictional possibilities.

When Brandon was approached about an option to turn his book into a movie, he declined the offer to write the screenplay. He said that, from early talks with filmmaker Clark Duke, he was confident that Duke, as an Arkansas native, had a genuine connection to the book.

Clark Duke had been a child actor on the television series Hearts Afire. The show ran from 1992 to 1995 and was created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Arkansan Harry Thomason. Other acting roles by Clark Duke include the movie Hot Tub Time Machine as well as TV shows The Office and Two and a Half Men.

In 2018, it was announced that Duke would be directing the movie Arkansas as well as writing the screenplay with Andrew Boonkrong. He hoped to shoot the movie in Arkansas and began scouting locations when he was advised that the state could not offer a tax credit, which often amounts to a major part of the budget.

Filming began in October 2018 in Mobile, Alabama, with most of the five-week shoot taking place in Alabama. Leading cast members were Liam Hemsworth as Kyle and Duke himself playing Swin. The rest of the cast included Vivica A. Fox, John Malkovich, and Vince Vaughn along with newcomer Eden Brolin (daughter of actor Josh Brolin and granddaughter of actor James Brolin, husband of Barbra Streisand).

Duke moved the latter part of the production to Arkansas in November 2018, beginning filming in Hot Springs. Locations included the Arlington Hotel, the Fordyce Bath House on Bathhouse Row, and Maxine’s, a historic night spot on Central Avenue. A number of locals reported spotting cast members around town, while some received roles as extras.

In several interviews, Duke described the experience of filming the movie in Hot Springs as a childhood dream come true. Duke also said that part of his attraction to the Arkansas project was a family connection. He stated that his grandfather was an associate of what has loosely been dubbed the “Dixie Mafia,” although he argued that the Dixie Mafia was less organized than other organized crime groups.

The world premiere of Arkansas was going to be held at the renowned South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2020. However, the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was scheduled to have a limited theatrical release by Lionsgate on May 1, 2020, but was instead released on Premium Video on Demand, DVD, and Blu-ray on May 5, 2020. It received mixed reviews, including a 3 out of 5 rating from Rolling Stone.

For additional information:
“Arkansas.” Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9139586/ (accessed July 10, 2024).

Brandon, John. Arkansas. New York: Grove Press, 2009.

Martin, Philip. “‘Arkansas’ Is (Sigh of Relief) Kinda Good.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 1, 2020, pp. 1E, 6E. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/may/01/arkansas-is-sigh-of-relief-kinda-good-2/ (accessed July 10, 2024).

Newton, Tanner. “Duke Living ‘Childhood Dream’ by Directing.” Sentinel-Record, November 22, 2018, pp. 1A, 10A. Online at https://www.hotsr.com/news/2018/nov/22/duke-living-childhood-dream-by-directin/ (accessed July 10, 2024).

———. “Fans Spot Hemsworth While Filming ‘Arkansas.’” Sentinel-Record, November 21, 2018, pp. 1A, 8A. Online at https://www.hotsr.com/news/2018/nov/21/fans-spot-hemsworth-while-filming-arkan/ (accessed July 10, 2024).

Okie, Matt. “G-rock, Arkansas: An Interview with Novelist John Brandon.” Identity Theory, February 25, 2008. https://www.identitytheory.com/arkansas-interview-novelist-john-brandon/ (accessed July 10, 2024).

Smittle, Stephanie. “Debut Diverted: ‘Arkansas’ Director Clark Duke Talks Timing, Barbecue and the Flaming Lips.” Arkansas Times, June 2020, pp. 9–10. Online at https://arktimes.com/entertainment/2020/05/05/arkansas-director-clark-duke-talks-timing-barbecue-and-the-flaming-lip (accessed July 10, 2024).

Nancy Hendricks
Garland County Historical Society