Radcliffe displays moral conflict, anguish, anger in ‘Imperium’

Hollywood is littered with tales of child actors who failed to make the transition to adult roles: Jake Loyd ("Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"), Edward Furlong ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day") and perhaps more infamously Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes. 

And few were under a spotlight as searing as Daniel Radcliffe. At the tender age of 11 he was slated to star as perhaps the most famous boy wizard the world has ever known and held the role through adolescence and early adulthood in the wildly successful "Harry Potter" franchise.

Since then, he has never reached the stratospheric heights of success with his films, but he has amassed an impressive body of work, never resting on his star power to carry a picture but selecting risky roles in unorthodox projects such as the underrated fantasy-horror "Horns," and this year's "Swiss Army Man," in which he plays a flatulent corpse. 

You can add "Imperium" to his list of impressive, bold choices. He plays Nate Foster, a young FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate a white supremacist group that may have plans to ignite a race war. Egged on by fellow agent Angela (played by Toni Collette), Nate reluctantly agrees and begins to maneuver his way into the world of the white pride movement and realizes that the roots run deeper than he realized. 

And while the story itself may seem like a familiar (and, sadly, rather timely) one, it's Radcliffe on full display here that is the film's strongest asset. It's a thrill to watch Nate play mental chess as he corkscrews down deeper into the den of Nazi sympathizers to earn their trust. There's talk-show host Dallas Wolf (played by Tracy Letts) who fans the flames of hatred in the community, Gerry Conway (played by Sam Trammell) whose domesticated, suburban facade hides his Aryan ties, and a number of other fellow skinheads who seem highly suspicious of Nate's appearance on the scene. 

While he still has a youthful air about him, Radcliffe is wholly convincing in the role and can pivot from scared to scary within seconds. It's a layered performance that is neither showy nor forced, demonstrating that he will certainly have a long-standing career ahead of him. Trammell and Letts are convincing in their roles of the agents of evil from whom Nate must earn trust, and the supporting cast of random skinheads gives authenticity to the by-the-numbers story. 

That's not to say the narrative is flawed, just familiar. There are no large gunfights, and, despite the theme, no acts of brain-searing brutality like the curb-biting scene from "American History X." Instead, "Imperium" stays with its lead and lets us watch the moral conflict, anguish and anger that Radcliffe so adeptly displays in the role. He continues to demonstrate that his magic did not end with the "Harry Potter" series. 

"Imperium" is available to stream via Amazon, Google Play, iTunes or Vudu.