The Deputy arrives on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 17 from Well Go USA.
Author Victor Gischler’s literary work sets the stage for a visceral crime flick in The Deputy, from director Matt Sukkar and screenwriter Carlo Bernard. It’s got its appeal too, particularly if you enjoy intriguing, cerebral dramas coupled with good shoot outs all set in contained spaces. You can immediately defer to titles like Copshop or Jericho Ridge or even Assault On Precinct 13 if you see fit.
Set in a small podunk town of Norman, part-time deputy Toby (Duke Nicholson) is tasked with keeping an eye on a dead body found outside of a bar until help arrives. Upon nightfall and after wandering off from boredom for his own set of pastimes, he comes back to the crime scene only to discover the body missing. What follows is a tale that unravels with mystery, intrigue and violence when Toby makes a troubling discovery that reveals layers of corruption that reach not only the department he works for, but a handful of men who now want him dead.
The latter end of that summary is an albeit exciting doozy, but I do praise the writing and overall characterizations. Nicholson is excellent as Toby, whose hapless and perfunctory predisposition is subject to scrutiny by the town’s sherrif, Kruger (William H. Macy), and even lateral judgement by fellow deputy Billy (Stephen Dorff). Even most of the other people in his life, including wife Doris (Billie Lourd) don’t think much of Toby, which is especially important to keep in mind as story unfolds.
While The Deputy plays out in slow-burn fashion from the start, it’s not long before the corpse disappears. By then, the film introduces new character, an intimate sex scene featuring incumbent university student Molly (Devon Ross) whose role reluctantly becomes a little more vital as the stakes for Toby escalate. Shootouts and attempted vehicular manslaughter erupt throughout the night in this neo-noir endeavor all leading up to situations of life and death where Toby eventually finds some modicum of invigoration and purpose, forced to take charge in moments he would have otherwise been passive.
The film also introduces character Amanda (Tiffany Haddish) well into the second half the film – a timely choice in the writing as Toby’s own struggles culminate in a moment of shock that becomes way more personal than he imagined. You get the notion that for the way things are, the writing is on the wall for the rest of the characters in The Deputy, whereas Toby’s passive existence gets the rude awakening he probably had coming, placing him aptly as the underdog to root for in a salvific crime thriller where the small things start to really matter.
Believe me when I tell you here that there’s a little more to that sentence than I’m letting up. I didn’t expect The Deputy to pull me in as much as it did midway into the film, and the more you watch, the more it comes together for a solid, seething neo-noir crime Western that Sukkar delivers in his noteworthy cinematic feature crime debut.
