Deadwood: The Movie Review: Like Fine Wine, Aged to Perfection
The passage of time can be cruel, or it can be rejuvenating: it can take things, and it can bring them back.
In Deadwood’s case, the show’s end in 2006 left unfinished business and Ian McShane’s Al Swearengen scrubbing yet another blood stain on the floor, locking its status as an all-time television great that deserved many more years.
For Deadwood: The Movie, the brilliant continuation brings equal measures catharsis and pathos. It’s a reminder of the show while also becoming a genuine postscript, just as important as the series.
photo: Warrick Page/HBO
Time is kind in giving us the film continuation some thirteen years later, ten years having passed on the show. Those ten years, however, has been hard on some more than others.
Al Swearengen finds those ten years placing him in more of an observer role as South Dakota marches toward its statehood. He is still powerful and commanding, as riveting as always, but he is diminished by time, perhaps even a little softened.
Timothy Olyphant’s Seth Bullock, though, is at a central position, weary and past the point of allowing any further disruption. His temper may not be what it used to be, but his resolve remains as stoic as ever.
photo: Warrick Page/HBO
The return of fan favorites is broad and all-encompassing, bringing (nearly) everyone back in smart and creative ways. No one is out of place, true to themselves and while some are haunted by their demons, some find their new stature prosperous.
The movie manages to pick up threads from the third season and string them into natural progressions, even ten years removed. The film does an impeccable job of standing on its own, while picking up pieces long left untouched.
The story is driven by emotions running hot, the most fitting way to take all of these hot-headed and damaged people.
photo: Warrick Page/HBO
That the movie can stay so measured and confident, with so much on its mind, is a testament to David Milch’s genius writing and Daniel Minahan’s beautiful direction.
Scenes are bathed in gorgeous light and drizzling dust through the beams, every set given new life all these years later with more depth and used in invigorating fashion. There’s an excitement to the direction, which the show at times missed through taking a more subdued approach.
Here, the opening moments are both a sign of the changing times, but also that the film is more charged than the series that came before. A particular gunfight deeper into the film is tensely shot with a feeling of dread driven entirely by character.
The pure joy of listening to these characters talk comes back in full force. The flowery anger and poetic grace of their spoken language adds layers not only to their meaning, but to themselves, the sometimes literal carrying something under the surface. Milch writes a specific and driven script to allow everyone their moment to shine, to give their character and performer something masterful to latch onto.
photo: Warrick Page/HBO
There are certainly moments that come across as moments for the fans, but they’re never out of place or without merit. They are there because they are natural progressions all these years later, and only last long enough to bring the emotions of the characters to the forefront.
Certain reminders of the past can come as somewhat disjointed in the way they’re used, the conversation and innuendo already being enough. But for some viewers, it may be needed, if there’s been some time since the first watch or last rewatch.
Olyphant and McShane rise to the occasion as the star players of the film. McShane is endlessly entertaining to watch, bringing Swearengen’s classic way with words and stubbornness a different layer through what he now battles, mostly in silence.
Olyphant impresses through a surprisingly emotional performance in Bullock, where years of resentment and a chance to make things right is equaled by the kindness and care he shows to those around him.
photo: Warrick Page/HBO
Deadwood: The Movie makes a fine point to stay true to itself and its people, as brash and as misguided as they may be.
Time passed, and they are still as broken, corrupted, or driven as they always were. But it’s in their resolve, and their community, where a camaraderie is found. Deadwood lives and dies by its people, and the film remembers this with great force.
Al Swearengen holds words of wisdom in a particularly key scene, while two hands are joined together. For a show with so many hardened individuals, it’s in the quiet, intimate moments where the film makes its mark known as a beautiful send-off for HBO’s brilliant television series.
What did you think of Deadwood: The Movie? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Deadwood: The Movie airs Friday, May 31st at 8/7c on HBO.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.