Bad Man Review: Southern-Fried Dialogue and Idiosyncratic Characters Lift Gun-Totin’ Black Comedy
You could be excused for forming very low expectations for this crime flick given its poster’s generically moody visuals depicting star Seann William Scott gripping a firearm with an electricity pylon in the distance. What a nice surprise to discover this is in fact a humorous film, and even more, one that’s often funny in a masculine, improv sort of way.
The Concept
The conceit is that in the small Tennessee town of Colt Lake, a man is killed in the street, run over by a car so many times that he resembles ground meat. Inept yet well-meaning local cop Sam Evans, portrayed by Johnny Simmons, and his deputy DJ, brought to life by Chance Perdomo, make a feeble stab at investigating, but are soon overshadowed when state investigator Bobby Gaines, embodied by Seann William Scott, suddenly shows up, representing a regional law enforcement unit and takes over the case.
Unconventional Methods
Gaines’ approaches may be a little on the violent side and not exactly according to protocol, but he gets admissions amazingly quickly and soon works his way up the certainly short criminal hierarchy until he finds the main bad guy. There are a few twists, but the crime plot is of much less importance than the rustic banter: a constant patter of men insulting each other, maligning one another’s masculinity, and generally labeling each other as small town failures.
Based on Reality?
Onscreen text at the beginning states that this 2008 story was based on real-life occurrences, but that may be as credible as the assertion at the start of the classic Fargo film. And who knows—maybe one of the villains really did have a girlfriend named Destiny, portrayed by Jett Wilder, who strolled around during showdowns playing the banjo, and that Sam had a soft spot for Izzy, played by Lovi Poe, the major’s daughter, and her gorgeous collection of textured sweaters.
Filmmaking Style
But the weird details around the edges give the film character, regardless of whether they’re rooted in truth, and director Michael Diliberti and his film cutter have a knack for trimming in just the right place to emphasize a joke. The last few miles of the script are more than a little foreseeable, but this isn’t at all bad for a directorial debut.
The Outlaw is available on digital platforms from 22 September.
