Deadwood: The Movie is fun but still leaves you wanting more

After nearly 13 years off the air, Deadwood returned to the small screen with a special edition movie that attempts to close out a series that was abruptly cancelled back in 2006. Although season 3 didn’t close with a cliffhanger — many of the major plots had a loose bow tied on them — no one, from the cast to the crew to the fans, was satisfied with where the show left Deadwood’s most infamous citizens. So here we are, with two more hours of bloodshed and cursing in the wild west. Let’s get this review started, you *&^#@(ckers.

Helmed by veteran TV director Daniel Minahan (who also directed the superb underground dark comedy Series 7: The Contenders), the movie opens 10 years after the end of season 3. Some our favorite characters, such as Calamity Jane, have moved on from Deadwood, but with the exception of characters like Cy Tolliver (actor Powers Boothe died in 2017), all of them return, ostensibly to celebrate South Dakota’s newly minted statehood. Among those returning are now-California Senator and still all-around evil dude George Hearst (Gerald McRaney).

Hearst’s arrival kicks off a repeat of season 3, as one of our heroes — this time poor Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) — once again possesses something Hearst wants, in this case land for new telephone poles. Why a sitting senator and one of the United States’ richest citizens would travel across the country to make sure some telephone poles are installed is beyond me, but Hearst’s arrival kicks off a series of events that, while entertaining in isolation, feel unworthy of the conclusion of a long-simmering series. If you’ve seen the show, you know how the movie plays out. Hearst’s role as the primary villain is at the root of my issues with this movie.

The acting, dialogue and cinematography are all stellar. In particular, Timothy Olyphant slides back into the role of Marshall Seth Bullock with a renewed fury that made me wish we’d gotten more of series, but again, the plot felt like a retread. Perhaps it felt that way because I’d only watched the series for the first time just a few months ago, but Hearst setting in motion events that get people killed in the name of making a small profit gave me a lot of déjà vu. When Hearst had his heart set on Alma Ellsworth’s goldmine in season 3, the stakes at least felt high given how large the mine was, but here? People start dying for some telephone poles, and I’m Ieft wondering why they simply didn’t build around?

SPOILERS follow below.

Several beloved characters meet their doom in the movie, including the master of f-bomb, Al Swearengen (Ian McShane). If Hearst feels like he’s doing the same things over again, Al feels neutered, taken down a peg from the thundering titan who dominated the camp for three seasons. Sure, his snappy comebacks are still here, but gone is the overpowering will. And while Al’s liver disease explains the sapping of his domineering personality, it was still jarring to see the centerpiece of the show — the reason I fell in love with it — so reduced. When Al finally succumbs to his condition, even though McShane delivers a last line worthy of chiseling into a stone tablet, it still felt like he went too quietly.

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All and all, while the movie had some great moments, it didn’t feel like a conclusion so much as the start of the next season. We get little resolution, Hearst is thrown in jail without hints of his final fate, and we don’t see what a post-Al Swearengen Deadwood will look like. I enjoyed this last fling with the characters, but a little more clarity would have gone a long way. As it is, I was left wishing there was another movie on the way to wrap this one up.

2.5 out of 4 Stars

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