By Dan Skip Allen

Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors. He’s done everything under the sun in his long and illustrious career. He even has a grandson, Luke Nicholson, who is following in his footsteps. I wasn’t aware that Jack had a grandson who was an actor until I saw him in “The Deputy.” I didn’t recognize him at first, but I did a double take and noticed a slight resemblance between grandfather and grandson. Luke is a chip off the old block as he was terrific on this film. It’s not his first acting gig, but it’s the first time I’ve seen him on the big or small screen. He does a solid job in this action comedy. His grandfather would be proud of him. It’s the kind of film he would’ve done when he was a younger actor. 

Toby Sawyer (Luke Nicholson) is a part-time small town deputy. He has a wife and a newborn son. He gets a call from the sheriff Chief Krueger (William H Macy) to come to a crime scene where he’s instructed to watch over a dead body of a local man. About an hour into him watching the body, he gets bored and goes to visit a friend for some friendly accompaniment. When he returns, the body is gone. This starts him off in a frantic mood to start figuring out what happened to the body. He starts down a path of investigation, and this leads to men trying to kill him, a freezer full of money and corrupt cops. He doesn’t have anybody on his side besides Deputy Amanda Jackson) Tiffany Haddish. She is as confused about the situation as he is. It’s a crazy scenario for all involved. 

This movie has a pretty good supporting cast as well as its star of the film. Steven Dorf is an actor who has done a lot of small indie movies, horror films, and television/ streaming series in his long career. I first saw him in “Blade”, but I liked him in “Old Henry” and “Somewhere”. He’s played his share of villains in the past, and here he does that again. At first, he’s introduced as a protagonist, but as the film progresses, you see his true nature. This film has a few twists, and that is one of them. Julia Fox is another actor who appeared in a few things in her career. She adds to the very good cast in this movie. They all support Nicholson in a good way. This kind of support is what a star needs.

The movie is written by Carlo Bernard based on the book by Victor Gischler.This story has some elements I’ve seen before, but it also has some twists and turns I’ve never seen before. There are layers on top of layers in the film. The original source material is filled with exceptional story beats that are infused into this film by the screenwriter. There are fantastic character developments and personal issues that I’m sure a lot of viewers of this film can relate to. That’s why this story was fascinating to me. It’s those kinds of aspects that make this story not just a simple one. I think once viewers who watch this movie, they’ll see what I’m talking about. 

Another element that I thought was interesting was the cinematography by Alejandro Mejia. Matt Sukkar, the director, had a distinct look he was going for in this film. One of my biggest pet peeves with cinematography in recent movies lately is that they don’t shoot night scenes very well. This film is the antithesis of that as far as I’m concerned. Mejia was able to shoot the majority night time story beautifully well. You can clearly see the characters even in dark alleys and especially throughout the entirety of the film.They also used storelights, lamplights, and other ways to light this movie. I don’t want to watch a movie I can’t see, and this one isn’t one of those. I’m glad these men were able to solve that problem in this production. 

For a small movie, this one has some good action scenes. Mostly Nicholson’s character trying to fend off thugs who want what he has, which I won’t say right now because it’s a spoiler. There are some gunfoo and fight sequences throughout this film. Nicholson’s character is thrust into a situation he wasn’t ready for, but once he didn’t have a choice, he jumped into action to defend his reputation. He tries to be a good father and boyfriend, but things keep happening in his life that make him come across in a bad way. Something he finds can help him change that in his personal life. That’s why he is under fire by these thugs and some corrupt police deputies. You know, as the saying goes though “don’t put baby in a corner.” You don’t want to see what happens when Nicholson’s character has nothing to lose. He goes into action. 

“The Deputy” is a crime thriller with a sympathetic lead character played by Nicholson. He has a lot going on in his life from being a recent father to trying to keep a regular job. He’s dealing with elements that were out of his control. Things were going on behind the scenes he was aware of, but once he was put into this situation, he wanted to prove he could be the man he always thought he could be. There is a fantastic supporting cast with Dorf, Fox, and Macy adding a little gravitas to the film. The cinematography looked fantastic, and the overall story had some twists and turns that kept me interested throughout the film. This is a small crime thriller, but it’s entertaining. I think fans of neo-westerns will surely like it.

🌟 🌟 🌟 ½ stars