Back in 2016, the Daniels (Scheinert and Kwan) gave us the delightfully idiosyncratic Swiss Army Man. Now the former half of the pairing returns with The Death of Dick Long – a film as fittingly bizarre and brilliant as you’d hope.
Zeke (Michael Abbott Jr), Earl (Andre Hyland), and Dick (director Daniel Scheinert in a small role too) are best-friends who we meet mid-band practice; they’re cracking beers and about to “get weird” after their raucous session. However, we next see the former two driving in a panic in the dead of night with our titular character bleeding out in the backseat. So they do the only logical thing two people would do in this scenario: dump him outside a hospital and speed off. When Dick passes away the next morning though (the circumstances around his death still hazy), Zeke and Earl try their best to keep their cool as they find themselves under investigation.
Scheinert does a great job of evoking a sense of intrigue right from the off; the details surrounding Long’s death are kept hidden from the audience for a lot of the duration. All we know is that Zeke and Earl were involved but they’re inept criminals, incapable of lying or not panicking at every question they’re asked so just how did this even happen? There’s something so devilishly enjoyable about seeing the pair fumble their way through their day; leaving their friend for dead was only the first of their many errors. But could these two nitwits really be responsible for the death of a person? It’s a question Scheinert, and writer Billy Chew, really have fun with; they mine a great deal of wit and absurdist humour from the incompetency of our pair and, much like Swiss Army Man’s sense of humour, the jokes are as weird as they are hilarious. The film also has a few tricks up its sleeve too.
There’s also a great deal of heart to the proceedings though; as the film peels back its layers on its leading idiots, there’s a sincerity to their blundering capabilities. A lot of the film is focused on Zeke’s relationship with his daughter (Poppy Cunningham) and wife Lydia (Virginia Newcomb) and we come to empathise for his precarious situation through this; he is clearly up the creek, but his pathos grounds the situation and really adds a humanity the film was otherwise lacking. It’s not the easiest film to relate to and the absurdity of it all can prove a little disconnecting for some but Zeke and Earl’s friendship, as well as their lives around, add an edge of sincerity to the mix that feels necessary. Some of the attempts at deeper themes fall flat – reduced to throwaway lines here and there – but this isn’t here to be a provocative piece. The Death of Dick Long is hilarious and weird and has the heart when it needs to. It’s a thoroughly unusual, enjoyable time and Scheinert, clearly aware of the kind of film he’s making, has fun with that and really goes for it. That’s why it works. And it works in spades.
The Death of Dick Long was reviewed at GFF 2020.
