'Deadwood: The Movie' A Review

Deadwood: The Movie is an HBO original film, a sequel and end to the Deadwood TV series that aired from 2004-2006. Ten years after the events of the final season Gem Saloon proprietor Al Swearengen(Ian McShane) is ill to the point of near death, Seth Bullock(Timothy Olyphant) is now a marshal and is happily married with three children, Sol Star(John Hawkes) and Trixie(Paula Malcomson) are expecting their first child. Enter the season 3 heavy, now Senator, George Hearst(Gerald McRaney) who returns to Deadwood for a celebration for the installation of telephone lines throughout the region.

For fans of the show The Movie more than delivers, we revisit the myriad of characters we came to know and love and for the most part they've all grown and matured(as have the actors) in some wonderful, tragic, and bittersweet ways. There is some beautiful echoing, as far as scenes/imagery/dialogue, to the series which creates a real sense of time and authenticity. But we still also get our favorite characters doing what they do best. It is especially pleasing to see McShane return to Swearengen, hamstrung by his failing health though he is, because the titanic Al is not depleted he's simply aging.

There is a lot to like about the film, how it effortlessly captures the feel of the series 15 years after it's conclusion, not an easy task as we have seen plagued as the pop culture landscape is by reboots and sequels. There is also a streak of age and regret the presumably mirrors writer/creator David Milch himself who is battling Alzheimer's disease. It's a remarkably poignant revisit to this amazing singular world, where the themes of ambition, community, and greed masked as progress resonate just as much as they ever did.

Streaming on HBO and probably not terribly satisfying if you haven't watched the show but a inspiring and thrilling return for Deadwood fans, for my money the greatest TV show of all time.

See It.