Deadwood Movie Review: A Fitting Curtain Call For One Of HBO’s Best Dramas

It was one time impossible to imagine we would actually get more Deadwood after the unceremonious ending of its three-season run. Most HBO scholars probably know the story by now of how Deadwood and other shows were canceled to make way for shows for John From Cincinnati and other underperformers. In a way, it signaled HBO transition into more irreverent (and frankly lower quality) shows before bouncing back in its present state. But in a TV climate that has given us more Veronica Mars and Sabrina, we shouldn’t count anything out. What is perhaps the most amazing thing about Deadwood is the reuniting of the cast. It seems just about everybody that was still alive in character (and also still alive in person, RIP to Powers Boothe and his amazing Cy Tolliver character) makes a return. That’s a testament in itself, considering that Deadwood made legit TV/Movie stars out of its main leads Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane. Yet, here they are, a considerable number of years older, but still the characters we got to know so well before they left us. Seth Bullock has a fuller family than how we left him, in arranged but marital bliss, but he’s still a hothead led by emotions and impulsive decision making. Al Swearingen is still the cold pragmatist who gives witty insults as easy as drawing breath. This is true for all of our favorite characters, whether it’s the Doc’s imprudence and impatient conduct towards those he treats or Calamity Jane’s awkward belligerence. David Milch and the…