“The Deputy” has a decent premise and a suitably grim setting, but it never finds the sharpness or grit its story could so desperately use.
Directed by Matt Sukkar and based on Victor Gischler’s novel, the film follows rookie part-time deputy Toby Sawyer (Duke Nicholson), who is assigned by Chief Krueger (William H. Macy) to guard a dead body. An hour later, the corpse disappears, sending Toby on a frantic search that exposes corruption, dirty cops, human trafficking, and decades of small town rot. Deputy Amanda Jackson (Tiffany Haddish) becomes his unlikely ally as he tries to clear his name and uncover what is really going on.
The setup is strong enough to carry a solid crime thriller, and the film does a good job creating an isolated and economically depressed Southern town where something ugly seems to be lurking behind every door. Despite some welcome dark humor, the mystery itself follows a painfully familiar path. The missing body is a good hook, but the script rarely digs beneath the surface and instead relies on predictable twists and a conspiracy that feels more assembled than discovered.
The bigger problem is the dialogue. It can be painfully clunky, and the performances often have the same stiff, artificial quality. Nicholson is particularly rigid as Toby, struggling to give the character any type of urgency. Even with strong production values and a potentially interesting noir atmosphere, the movie often comes across as corny rather than gritty (which isn’t great for a crime drama).
“The Deputy” is watchable, but its premise promises more than the film ultimately delivers. What could have been a tense and nasty small town noir instead becomes a formulaic crime story that rarely surprises and never quite finds its footing.
By: Louisa Moore
