Alan Sepinwall on the Deadwood Movie

Comments

• A_Ron_Hubbard Cincinnati, OH

  April 25

  Yeah, I saw that cross my news feed yesterday. How terrible. I hope he gets to hold on to as much dignity and self as he can, and is allowed to go out on his own terms. I've lost more people to cancer, but Alzheimer's is imo the most evil disease.

  
• kuman07 Kansas City

  June 1

  That movie was everything I could’ve hoped for and more. 13 years later and they didn’t miss a beat. Thank you David Milch.

  
• Naugustine

  June 1 edited June 1

  98% on rotten tomatoes currently. I can’t wait to watch this tomorrow when I get home from work. I’ve been waiting a long time for this movie and am surprised that it finally got made.  

  
• blue_sleeve

  June 1

  It definitely hit all the beats it needed to hit. I really enjoyed getting back into the world of Deadwood, even if it was for only 2 hours. (I really wish it could have been one more season, but I’ll take it!) It’s great to finally have some kind of closure to such an epic show!

  
• Teletype

  June 1

  Loved it.
• Teletype

  June 1

  Kinda weird seeing Con Stapleton as the preacher who marries Sol and Trixie.  Last I remember he was working for Cy Tolliver, and not exactly a man of god.  Maybe it was same actor but different character?  Also...was kinda hoping they'd bring Garrett Dillahunt back to play a THIRD Deadwood character.  

  
• ken hale

  June 1 edited June 1

  Man, that was just wonderful. A bit storybook, a bit too fan-servicey, perhaps, but if any series deserves an ending like that, this one does. I couldn’t help but enjoy this on a meta level, just happy for all these actors to be able to reunite and give these characters a proper sendoff. I might be reading a little too much into things, but some of the ruminations on age and death seemed to me like they spoke to David Milch’s perspective as he gets older. 
  
  It picks up, thematically, right where season three left off and it hasn’t skipped a beat in terms of characterization and tone. I can definitely see room for points of criticism, but why dwell on that when this movie worked all my emotions like it did and left me smiling. I had thought my expectations were impossibly high, but this surpassed them. What a perfect finale to the show.
   
• GredalBee

  June 1

  Teletype said:

  Kinda weird seeing Con Stapleton as the preacher who marries Sol and Trixie.  Last I remember he was working for Cy Tolliver, and not exactly a man of god.  Maybe it was same actor but different character?  Also...was kinda hoping they'd bring Garrett Dillahunt back to play a THIRD Deadwood character.  

  I believe he's the guy taunting Hearst after the public beating. "I hope you die in the street."
  
• CALVlLlAIN

  June 2 edited June 2

  A bit hammy at times? Yes. But man every single scene in that thoroughfare felt so alive. Milch captured the visual energy of the original series so well. I just wanted to spend another 8 hours in this world. 
  
  + The tension banjo was back in full force!
  
  Loved it.

  
• EMAW42

  June 3

  That was the best Timothy Olyphant has been throughout all of Deadwood in my opinion. This movie was so much better than my expectations.

  
• MrX CO

  June 3 edited June 3

  EMAW42 said:

  That was the best Timothy Olyphant has been throughout all of Deadwood in my opinion. This movie was so much better than my expectations.

  
  yea he really brought it to the movie. Sepinwall talks about it in his review of the movie, how the show was McShane's, but since they had Swearingin largely sidelined due to his dying arc, they let Olyphant shine in a way he rarely got to during the original run. He has a role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," hoping that part gives him a chance to show his acting chops up against Leo.
  
  I also thought they did a really good job with Calamity Jane's story for the movie and wrapping up her character's arc.
  
  I loved the movie. I didn't get a chance to rewatch any of the show ahead of time, so had almost forgotten how fucking good the writing is. Miles about almost anything on tv right now. The dialogue is just fantastic.
  
  I highly recommend reading all of sepinwall's coverage of the movie, he has fantastic interviews with Olyphant and also W Earl Brown
  
  https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/timothy-olyphant-deadwood-interview-835207/
  https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/deadwood-w-earl-brown-interview-838482/
  
  

  
• rkcrawf

  June 5

  @EMAW42 @MrX I saw the series about 3-4 years ago, and barely remember how it ended. Is a rewatch of the series necessary/recommended?
• MrX CO

  June 5

  rkcrawf said:

  @EMAW42 @MrX I saw the series about 3-4 years ago, and barely remember how it ended. Is a rewatch of the series necessary/recommended?

  
  Not necessary, but recommend if you have time. I didn't, so ended up just reading Wikipedia summaries of the seasons to remember the key plot points, and also this Sepinwall primer:
  https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/deadwood-movie-primer-sepinwall-835949/
  

  
• rkcrawf

  July 3

  Oy! Finally finished the full rewatch and the movie. The small moment of zeitgeist has passed for the Deadwood movie, but I am extremely glad I rewatched the whole series first. The series, for anyone who hasn't finished it, has some huge moments in S3 but ends abruptly and with a whimper (due to it being cancelled). The movie centers around some of those big S3 moments, so reliving them so close to seeing the movie definitely brought the emotional thunder to the movie-watching experience. 
  
  The other bonus to re-watching was that I appreciated the earlier seasons much more this time around. As the guys said in the podcast, the dialogue obscures the intentions and motivations, so its easy to miss the subtleties the first time around.
  
  I wish someone could recut Tombstone with Timothy Olyphant as Wyatt Earp (or the psycho version of Morgan Earp that we see in S3).
• Garthgou81 Placerville, CA

  July 3

  rkcrawf said:

  Oy! Finally finished the full rewatch and the movie. The small moment of zeitgeist has passed for the Deadwood movie, but I am extremely glad I rewatched the whole series first. The series, for anyone who hasn't finished it, has some huge moments in S3 but ends abruptly and with a whimper (due to it being cancelled). The movie centers around some of those big S3 moments, so reliving them so close to seeing the movie definitely brought the emotional thunder to the movie-watching experience. 
  
  The other bonus to re-watching was that I appreciated the earlier seasons much more this time around. As the guys said in the podcast, the dialogue obscures the intentions and motivations, so its easy to miss the subtleties the first time around.
  
  I wish someone could recut Tombstone with Timothy Olyphant as Wyatt Earp (or the psycho version of Morgan Earp that we see in S3).

  Thanks for this. I was debating on rewatching the series before jumping into the movie. I haven't seen season 2 or 3 since the premiere and only remember bits and pieces. I guess I know what I will be watching next. 

  
• rkcrawf

  July 6

  Shit! Cocksucker Harry Manning, the no-good turncoat and would be sheriff, has the balls to show his cuntface in Justified.