Deadwood: The Movie (2019) ****1/2
It's rare that there is a gap as long as the one between when Deadwood (2004–2006) the series aired and Deadwood: The Movie (2019) was released where the tone and level of quality of a continuing artistic property is retained so highly.
When I was introduced to Deadwood by my friend Victoria (in 2008, I believe it was—thanks, Vicky) I didn't like it at first. I thought the Shakespearean vulgarity of the dialogue drew too much attention to itself. I was put off but there was still something there that compelled me to stick with it (I do love good westerns). Boy, am I glad I did because it ended up being one of my Top 3 favorite TV series ever. After three episodes something just clicked. Like a lot of unique and challenging art, I wasn't initially enamored with DW, but when I came around it was revelatory. It's interesting how some films, shows, albums, paintings, photographs, etc. don't grab you at first but then they just...do. I later bought the complete series and watched it all the way through twice more.
Point being, I was incredibly excited for the return of these characters. I would have watched DW:TM immediately when it aired had I not been in VT for a music recording project all weekend. But a few days late is fine, as it's one film I will most definitely be revisiting. I hope that it will see a home video release, on Blu-ray and/or UHD, as I'd love to watch the complete series through again and follow it up with the film (in the highest possible quality).
That virtually every actor that is still alive that played a major (or minor) character came back for this film speaks volumes. DW:TM feels very much like a couple of episodes of the show, albeit with a slightly more cinematic quality. You can tell that the crew was given a good budget because the production, lighting, camerawork, costumes, editing, etc. is all, for the most part, top notch. Daniel Minahan, who directed four episodes of the series, helms the film, which fits like a glove—both as if 13 years (roughly 10 in the world of the characters) hadn't gone by at all and as if the time disappeared "like somebody snapped their fingers," as Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) utters upon Alma Ellsworth's (Molly Parker) return.
Series creator/writer of five episodes, David Milch, wrote the film as well, and you knew he wasn't going to fuck it up, on his end anyway. This is his baby. Without that eloquently uncouth (and often grimly hilarious) speech, the show (and film) could be just another western cosplay. But that's definitely not the case, because of Milch, because of the craft of the crew and especially because of the letter-perfect casting that has always been one of the show's strongest benefits.
There is a sense of melancholy to the film, always part of the series but deepened here. Most of the characters have mellowed to a degree—even as they have become more grizzled—but when Senator George Hearst (Gerald McRaney) returns to town, tensions escalate quickly, devious deeds are set into motion and, of course, violence ensues. One particular gunfight is riveting but, as with the series, violence is never glorified—it's shown for what it is: brutal, quick and consequential. As the future and technology/industrialism (with Hearst as avatar) encroaches on the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, we slowly see the old ways die off, as some of the characters also do.
Just a few of the things that I loved about the film: Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and Alma's tragic and fully-unrealized romance (still rippling below the surface of their proper public presentations), Bullock and Charlie's friendship (that of gruff but sensitive men), and Al Swearengen's (Ian McShane) tough fatherly role. All of these elements were present in the series, but here again, they are developed/continued with an expert touch.
One of the only niggles I have with DW:TM is that I wish HBO had just greenlit Milch for a fourth season, rather than what amounts to two episodes, to give a little more breathing room for the events to unfold. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that my skin was buzzing with electricity while I watched Deadwood: The Movie, a feeling I hadn't felt in too long and that I don't feel enough. It's inspiring, comforting and sad, all at once.
When I was introduced to Deadwood by my friend Victoria (in 2008, I believe it was—thanks, Vicky) I didn't like it at first. I thought the Shakespearean vulgarity of the dialogue drew too much attention to itself. I was put off but there was still something there that compelled me to stick with it (I do love good westerns). Boy, am I glad I did because it ended up being one of my Top 3 favorite TV series ever. After three episodes something just clicked. Like a lot of unique and challenging art, I wasn't initially enamored with DW, but when I came around it was revelatory. It's interesting how some films, shows, albums, paintings, photographs, etc. don't grab you at first but then they just...do. I later bought the complete series and watched it all the way through twice more.
Point being, I was incredibly excited for the return of these characters. I would have watched DW:TM immediately when it aired had I not been in VT for a music recording project all weekend. But a few days late is fine, as it's one film I will most definitely be revisiting. I hope that it will see a home video release, on Blu-ray and/or UHD, as I'd love to watch the complete series through again and follow it up with the film (in the highest possible quality).
That virtually every actor that is still alive that played a major (or minor) character came back for this film speaks volumes. DW:TM feels very much like a couple of episodes of the show, albeit with a slightly more cinematic quality. You can tell that the crew was given a good budget because the production, lighting, camerawork, costumes, editing, etc. is all, for the most part, top notch. Daniel Minahan, who directed four episodes of the series, helms the film, which fits like a glove—both as if 13 years (roughly 10 in the world of the characters) hadn't gone by at all and as if the time disappeared "like somebody snapped their fingers," as Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) utters upon Alma Ellsworth's (Molly Parker) return.
Series creator/writer of five episodes, David Milch, wrote the film as well, and you knew he wasn't going to fuck it up, on his end anyway. This is his baby. Without that eloquently uncouth (and often grimly hilarious) speech, the show (and film) could be just another western cosplay. But that's definitely not the case, because of Milch, because of the craft of the crew and especially because of the letter-perfect casting that has always been one of the show's strongest benefits.
There is a sense of melancholy to the film, always part of the series but deepened here. Most of the characters have mellowed to a degree—even as they have become more grizzled—but when Senator George Hearst (Gerald McRaney) returns to town, tensions escalate quickly, devious deeds are set into motion and, of course, violence ensues. One particular gunfight is riveting but, as with the series, violence is never glorified—it's shown for what it is: brutal, quick and consequential. As the future and technology/industrialism (with Hearst as avatar) encroaches on the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, we slowly see the old ways die off, as some of the characters also do.
Just a few of the things that I loved about the film: Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and Alma's tragic and fully-unrealized romance (still rippling below the surface of their proper public presentations), Bullock and Charlie's friendship (that of gruff but sensitive men), and Al Swearengen's (Ian McShane) tough fatherly role. All of these elements were present in the series, but here again, they are developed/continued with an expert touch.
One of the only niggles I have with DW:TM is that I wish HBO had just greenlit Milch for a fourth season, rather than what amounts to two episodes, to give a little more breathing room for the events to unfold. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that my skin was buzzing with electricity while I watched Deadwood: The Movie, a feeling I hadn't felt in too long and that I don't feel enough. It's inspiring, comforting and sad, all at once.
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