Bad Man Film Analysis: Down-Home Script and Quirky Characters Elevate Gun-Totin’ Dark Humor Film
You could be forgiven for forming extremely modest anticipations for this thriller movie given its poster’s predictably somber imagery showing lead actor Seann William Scott holding a gun with an electricity pylon in the background. What a nice revelation to discover this is in fact a comedy, better yet, one that’s often humorous 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 looks like meatloaf. Clueless but kindly local cop Sam Evans, played by Johnny Simmons, and his deputy DJ, brought to life by Chance Perdomo, make a half-hearted attempt at solving the case, but are soon upstaged when special agent Bobby Gaines, played by Seann William Scott, suddenly arrives, representing a regional law enforcement unit and assumes control of the case.
Unconventional Methods
Gaines’ approaches may be a little on the violent side and not exactly by the book, but he gets admissions amazingly quickly and soon works his way up the admittedly short crime food chain until he finds the primary antagonist. There are a few surprises, but the investigative storyline is of much less importance than the southern-fried backchat: a constant patter of men mocking each other, questioning one another’s manhood, and generally labeling each other as small town failures.
Based on Reality?
Opening titles at the beginning states that this 2008 story was inspired by real-life occurrences, but that may hold as much water 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, portrayed by Jett Wilder, who strolled around during showdowns playing the banjo, and that Sam had a sweet spot for Izzy, brought to life by Lovi Poe, the town official’s daughter, and her gorgeous collection of textured sweaters.
Directorial Flair
But the weird details around the edges give the film flavor, regardless of whether they’re based on anything real, and director Michael Diliberti and his editor have a knack for trimming in just the right place to emphasize a joke. The last few miles of the screenplay are more than a little foreseeable, but this isn’t at all disappointing for a first-time filmmaker.
The Outlaw is available on digital platforms from 22 September.
