Silk Road is an accurate re-telling about the notorious drug website of the same name where a person could buy anything anonymously, unfortunately the film tries to pack everything into 2 hours and falls a little flat. The Silk Road story is so fascinating it would have made a terrific drug fueled 6 part mini-series so Ross's character could be developed and the intricate story how the DEA tracked him down could be told.
Back in 2011 and 2012 "nearly 20 percent of drug consumers in the U.S. used narcotics bought on Silk Road. By facilitating more than a million transactions, the site generated the equivalent of more than $1.2 billion in revenues during its two-and-a-half-year run."
Nick Robinson does a fine job as Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, going from a fresh faced kid to a harried drug kingpin not realizing he is way over his head.
Jason Clarke is in character as Rick Bowden, the gritty undercover cop trying to adapt to the internet age. As movies do, Rick Bowden is a composite character mixing fact with dramatic fiction.
The film's credits say the story is based on the February 4, 2014 Rolling Stone article:
Dead End on Silk Road: Internet Crime Kingpin Ross Ulbricht’s Big Fall by David Kushnerhttps://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/dead-end-on-silk-road-internet-crime-kingpin-ross-ulbrichts-big-fall-122158/The April 2015 Wired magazine 2-part series is a much better, more enjoyable read with finer details:
The Rise & Fall of Silk Road - How a 29-year-old idealist built a global drug bazaar and became a murderous kingpin by Joshua Bearman https://www.wired.com/2015/04/silk-road-1/Read both articles for background then see the movie. The Wired article is better than the movie which is just average, it's not horrible and passes the time, just don't expect "The Social Network".
51% on RT
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silk_road 
