Bad Man Review: Down-Home Dialogue and Idiosyncratic Characters Elevate Firearm-Wielding Black Comedy
You could be excused for having very low expectations for this crime flick given the promotional image’s predictably somber imagery depicting lead actor Seann William Scott gripping a firearm with an electricity pylon in the distance. What a pleasant surprise to find out this is in fact a comedy, and even more, one that’s frequently funny in a masculine, improvised sort of way.
The Premise
The setup is that in the tiny Tennessee town of Colt Lake, a man is killed in the street, struck 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, enacted by Chance Perdomo, make a feeble stab at investigating, but are soon upstaged when state investigator Bobby Gaines, played by Seann William Scott, suddenly arrives, 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 strictly by the book, but he obtains admissions amazingly quickly and soon progresses through the admittedly short criminal hierarchy until he locates the primary antagonist. There are a few twists, but the crime plot is of much less importance than the southern-fried backchat: a constant stream of men mocking each other, questioning one another’s manhood, and generally labeling each other as local underachievers.
Fact or Fiction?
Onscreen text at the beginning states that this narrative set in 2008 was inspired by actual events, but that may be as credible as the claim at the start of the classic Fargo film. And who knows—maybe one of the villains really did have a girlfriend named Destiny, played by Jett Wilder, who strolled around during confrontations playing the banjo, and that Sam had a soft spot for Izzy, brought to life by Lovi Poe, the major’s daughter, and her stunning collection of textured sweaters.
Filmmaking Style
But the weird elements around the edges give the film character, irrespective of whether they’re rooted in truth, and director Michael Diliberti and his editor have a knack for trimming in just the right place to drive home a joke. The final act of the screenplay are more than a little foreseeable, but this isn’t at all disappointing for a first-time filmmaker.
Bad Man is available on digital platforms from 22 September.
