The Outlaw Review: Down-Home Script and Idiosyncratic Locals Lift Firearm-Wielding Dark Humor Film
You could be excused for forming very low anticipations for this thriller movie given its poster’s generically moody imagery depicting lead actor Seann William Scott holding a gun with an power tower in the background. What a pleasant revelation to find out this is actually a humorous film, better yet, one that’s frequently humorous in a masculine, improvised sort of way.
The Premise
The setup is that in the small Tennessee town of Colt Lake, a man is killed in the street, struck by a car so many times that he resembles ground meat. Clueless but kindly local cop Sam Evans, played by Johnny Simmons, and his deputy DJ, brought to life by Chance Perdomo, make a feeble stab at solving the case, but are soon upstaged when state investigator Bobby Gaines, played by Seann William Scott, suddenly arrives, representing a regional law enforcement unit and assumes control of the case.
Unconventional Methods
Gaines’ approaches may be a little on the forceful side and not strictly by the book, but he gets confessions surprisingly fast and soon progresses through the admittedly short criminal hierarchy until he finds the main bad guy. There are a few twists, but the crime plot is of far lesser importance than the rustic banter: a constant stream of men mocking each other, maligning one another’s masculinity, and generally labeling each other as small town failures.
Based on Reality?
Opening titles at the beginning says that this narrative set in 2008 was based on actual events, but that may be as credible as the assertion at the start of the original Fargo film. And who knows—maybe one of the villains really did have a girlfriend named Destiny, portrayed by Jett Wilder, who strolled around during showdowns strumming the banjo, and that Sam had a sweet spot for Izzy, brought to life by Lovi Poe, the major’s daughter, and her gorgeous collection of brioche-knit sweaters.
Filmmaking Style
But the weird details around the edges give the film character, irrespective of whether they’re based on anything real, and director Michael Diliberti and his film cutter have a talent for snipping in just the right place to emphasize a joke. The last few miles of the script are more than a little foreseeable, but this isn’t at all bad for a directorial debut.
The Outlaw is available on digital platforms from 22 September.
