Not quite credible enough to stand up as a gritty, 70s-esque social drama, and lacking the focus of the Training Day-style urban thriller it’s marketed as, Michele Civetta’s second feature is an awkward but passably entertaining blend of both. The Gateway is the nickname for the Missouri city of St Louis, rough terrain shepherded by seen-it-all social worker Parker (a lead role for blockbuster fringe player Shea Whigham). Sipping Jameson miniatures as he does his rounds, he becomes particularly concerned about Dahlia (Olivia Munn) and Ashley (Taegen Burns), after the latter’s dad Mike (Zach Avery) is released from prison.

Civetta, who also co-wrote, is not one for understatement. Not only is Parker a hard-boozing caseworker, he’s also an orphan (abandoned by Bruce Dern’s jazz-trumpeter dad) as well as a former prizefighting champ. With slicked-back hair, a grimace and a cig permanently on the go, Whigham plays him like welfare’s own Dirty Harry. He’s at odds with his boss, decks a colleague for leching at Dahlia, and unsolicited visits to his wards are his equivalent of roughing up suspects.

In line with this overkill, The Gateway is an odd mishmash of styles – from a fish-eye-shot house-visit to jauntily soundtracked street beatdowns – and it is bogged down by portentous tendencies, with a couple of incongruous state-of-America monologues. But while the film labours to set up all its pieces, it builds up some viable steam as Parker tries to shield Dahlia and Ashley from Mike, who is back in the game and running in fear of smarmy kingpin Duke (the ubiquitous Frank Grillo). With Civetta ably dashing off a couple of desperate kidnap attempts, The Gateway manages to scrabble over the line.

• The Gateway is available on digital platforms on 27 September.