My review of Dead Man

Saw this one for my film class...really interesting. Not your typical western. In fact, this film defined the term 'Acid Western' and started that genre. As such it probably deserved more than a 70% from this site.

Acting/Characters: I will only say this once (okay probably not true but maybe) This. cast. is. freaking. AMAZING!! Johnny Depp, Lance Henriksen, Alfred Molina, John Hurt, Billy Bob Thorton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, and in his final film role, Robert Mitchum. Yeah, you heard me, Robert Mitchum. The characters were amazing. A lot of the aforementioned actors don't have a lot in the way of screen time, but they all make the most of it. My favorite character by far was Nobody. He was a really interesting character and it was interesting to see how he interacted with William Blake (No not that William Blake although...). Lance Henriksen...You know how Psychotic Kathy Bates was in Misery? Well, he was pretty much a little more psychotic. He was kinda Hannibal Lecter sort of psychotic. Yeah. he was absolutely nuts. 10/10

Plot: It had kinda the same plot as a lot of westerns: Guy on the run from the law and bad people. But it had a lot of plot elements the you wouldn't ever find in any John Wayne western. ever. Even if he was alive and still doing westerns you wouldn't find him in one like this. I highly enjoyed the plot and I was interested to see where it went next, or at least, where Nobody took it next. Not your typical Western plot but at the same time it was. 9.5/10

Screenplay: Not too much in the way of words here. It had an excellent Screenplay when people did talk though particularly with Nobody. So yeah...good screenplay that was kinda low on words... 9.5/10

Likableness: This is another one that I'm sure not a lot of people have heard of. If you haven't seen it I would highly suggest that you do. it was utterly fantastic. It is shot entirely in black and white but I'm sure that won't be a problem for any of you. I highly enjoyed this one and I suggest you all see it. It is an excellent film. if you see it and you don't like it...*scoff* Stupid f****** white man. (line from film) 10/10

Final Score: 39/40 97% (N)


TRIVIA TIME: 1. The names of the two marshals that Blake kills are Lee and Marvin, an homage to Lee Marvin.

2. The passage Salvatore Jenko reads from the Bible is from 1 Samuel 17:46, "This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee ...".

3. Pretty much every third line and character name is a reference of a William Blake poem (exaggeration but there is a lot of William Black quotes in here).