A young sheriff’s deputy finds himself in the crosshairs of dangerous criminals when the dead body he is assigned to keep an eye on disappears from a crime scene.
“The Deputy” has all the makings of a sharp Southern neo-noir: a suspicious police department, a small town full of secrets, a dangerous cop, and a young deputy who’ll have to question the people around him. It also has a very good cast (William H. Macy, Stephen Dorff, and Tiffany Haddish, to name a few). The only thing it lacks is a script that takes full advantage of them.
Duke Nicholson is the junior deputy in the story, and it’s Chief Krueger (Macy) who kicks things off. Nicholson soon gets in the thick of a murky local investigation and encounters conflicting accounts, questionable allegiances, and the growing sense that the corruption may go much further than anyone is prepared to admit. Deputy Billy Banks (Dorff) is a troubling character, and Deputy Amanda Jackson (Haddish) comes in later as a grounded, skeptical foil. It’s an interesting set-up, even if the path it takes is pretty predictable from the outset.
Nicholson is the film’s real problem. His character is so passive, so flat, that you get fed up watching him go through the business of solving the mystery. A slow burner can work with a quiet protagonist, but quiet doesn’t have to mean inert. He doesn’t give the character enough pizzazz, enough curiosity, enough inner drive to make it work in the film’s less compelling sections.
The supporting cast actually do better, though the script gives them very little to work with. Macy is absolutely perfect as Chief Krueger, establishes the premise very effectively right at the start, and then he’s pretty much gone for the middle of the film. He makes a very brief return at the end, and it’s a real hole in the film.
Dorff is a solid antagonist as Billy Banks, a genuinely menacing presence without ever going full caricature. His screen time and character development are just a bit underwhelming, though. He’s there as a threat throughout the film, but he’s not really developed into the kind of villain the story requires.
Haddish plays against type as Deputy Amanda Jackson, dropping her usual comedic energy for a straight, skeptical dramatic performance. She’s very convincing in the role, but she comes in rather late in the third act and doesn’t have much time to really make an impact. She’s in the same position as Macy and Dorff really, more of a ‘we could have had a much better film with this cast’ type of character rather than a fully realized member of the ensemble.
The plot is very slow-moving, collecting underdeveloped subplots and predictable twists along the way. The mystery is messy rather than particularly complex, and the neo-noir ambiance never quite achieves the level of menace that the premise would have you believe. It does, however, at times find a rather pleasing rhythm. The odd characters and bursts of dark humor give it that slightly unsavory, guilty-pleasure genre-film feel.
At 98 minutes, it’s diverting enough. It keeps you interested, has a few genuinely funny moments, and the cast are very good at what they do, bringing some life to the material. It is also very formulaic, rather slow, and not one you’re likely to remember. “The Deputy” isn’t a total failure by any means. It’s just a missed opportunity in that it has a very interesting premise and a very good cast who are completely stranded in a film that doesn’t give them either the premise or the material to work with.
Available on Blu-ray™ and DVD November 17th
