Dead Man (1995)

Dead Man is a film about a man named William Blake. He comes west from Cleveland for a job, but the job is gone. He is nearly murdered and then blamed for the death of two people. He tries to escape where he meets a Native American named Nobody who helps him kill some white people before he dies. While telling this story, the film has numerous sequences where little happens other than just some background noise. The story was slightly interesting at times, but mostly it came off as mind-numbingly slow and the plot felt almost nonexistent. While some films can be enjoyable without much focus on the plot (most notably 8½), this film is not.

The film stars Johnny Depp as William Blake and Gary Farmer as Nobody. While they are adequate, the film is not dialogue-heavy and their roles are not particularly memorable. The film contains numerous supporting characters who are equally forgettable. One worth mentioning is a factory owner, played by Robert Mitchum. While his performance hardly stands out, it is noteworthy in that it is the last film appearance for Mitchum.

Stylistically, this film is shot in black and white. Unlike other modern black and white films like Schindler's List there appears to be no reason for this film to be shot in black and white. While lack of color is clearly not a detriment to a film as films have been in black and white throughout film history, I fail to see why the director chose to use black and white in a film made in 1995.

Also worth noting is the film's score which is by Neil Young. While I do appreciate Neil Young's music, I was not particularly impressed with his work in this film. Although the music is quite distinct, it did not come off as all that impressive and is vastly inferior to scores in other westerns such as those by Ennio Morricone, most notable in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Overall, there is not much to like about this film. While it is said to be a western, it is not like any other western I have seen. While westerns typically have a lot of action, this film has almost none. The director called the film a psychedelic western, and that probably fits the film better than calling just a western. The film is probably trying to make some sort of point, but I don't know what. This film might be worth seeing for fans of westerns or Johnny Depp, but I wouldn't recommend it.

33/100
F

UP NEXT: Another western.

that movie must suck!