Dean Dempsey’s Deadman’s Barstool, a crime comedy from 2018, arrives on Blu-Ray as part of the Anchor Bay “unDISCovered” sub-label.
I recently saw writer-director Dean Dempsey’s Candy Apple as another release of the Anchor Bay Blu-Ray sublabel, “UnDISCovered,” highlighting indies worth seeing that slipped through the cracks.. The 2016 film was a highly enjoyable punk rock odyssey of incredibly interesting characters living their lives, with non-actors recounting and recreating their own stories, or versions of theirs and others. It’s a lo-fi slice of life, led by Dempsey’s own father, Texas Trash, in a highly memorable performance. Dempsey followed it with Deadman’s Barstool, a more straightforward narrative feature.
John the Preacher is a, well, famous preacher, big beard and big messages in a mega-church where he claims to heal. Of course, he’s a sham. A cheat. A money hoarder. His long-suffering wife plans with his most recent mistress to kill him, take the money, and run. But when they arrive, the job is already done and the cash is gone. Who beat them to the bang? Who will take the blame? The police close the case as suicide, but it’s not long before a scheming detective noses in, and everyone at the bar John frequented tries to figure out who’s at fault.
As much as I enjoy Candy Apple, Deadman’s Barstool is a step down. Not too far, it’s an engaging and interesting film, following many of the same trends and thoughts, the sort of characters. With the addition of more plot and subsequently more standard writing, some of the spark is gone. The story, co-written by Dempsey and Greg Mania, has a Coen or Elmore Leonard quality, many personalities coming and going from one another, criminal or crime-adjacent, or at least a little off-kilter in their lives. It’s fun to see how they come and go, who thinks what, and how it plays. A few asides of the possibilities display a fine sense of humor and playfulness among the violence. With a large cast, the mystery often takes the back seat for characters to have their moments. And it gets a little lost in the mix. It might be just me, but if you think about it for a bit, the answer presents itself handily. But it’s still a fine watch as the film works its way through. But it’s really less about the mystery and more about the people populating it.
Dempsey has a flair for and an affection for those working on the edges of society. People are moving through as best they can, living their lives in their own way. Dempsey’s work is best when these characters are the focus. Akin to the Coens, they make up many of his most interesting and watchable characters, the ones that stick. As the title suggests, with “barstool,” most of the action and characters are in and around the bar he frequented. Two over-the-top street grifters, the disenchanted mistress, her devoted to the dead man sister, the over-it wife, the bar staff, and the special needs janitor. The performances are wildly divergent, with Dempsy himself the strongest as the conman detective. They all highlight the absurdities of life, the hypocrisy of crime and criminals to relations and “law & order”; the preacher and the cop are just as much conmen as the denizens of the bar. Dempsey isn’t preaching or moralizing with the messaging; it’s how life is.
Deadman’s Barstool will work for those who enjoy small crime capers of interesting characters moving around one another. While there are story trip-ups, it’s not enough to fall. Between the two films, I really enjoy Dempsy’s work. On the podcast, he said he has a new one lined up. Can’t wait to see it.
Outside of the trailer, the disc has one special feature: an episode of “The Plank,” a video podcast from Anchor Bay featuring Jillian Leigh Gardner and Josh Wagner as they interview film folks. This is the 3rd of the currently 9 (as of October 24th). It was quite interesting listening to Dempsey speak to his career, in approaching his films and art on the whole, and the troubles of working with low budgets and not exactly honest distributors (not Anchor Bay, but for earlier digital distribution of the films). It was insightful and honest. A bit where they ask him his top 4 on Letterboxd goes on too long, devolving into “what do you think about this director or this one” rather than a natural flow of conversation. Note: the sound is uneven, with Dempsey much quieter than the pair. It may be based on how he speaks more softly compared to them, but it is an up-and-down that got to me as I couldn’t get the volume to be either too loud or too quiet on my TV.
The film is cased in a thin Blu-ray case. The case and disc don’t say the region-coding, so I’m not sure what it is.
Deadman’s Barstool will be available from Anchor Bay’s UnDISCovered sublabel on October 28th. Of the pair of Demsey’s films presented on the label, I prefer Candy Apple, so check that out first. If you dig it, take a seat on Deadman’s Barstool.
