Review: "The Death of Dick Long" Finds Perplexing Substance in Stupid Mistakes

Scene from The Death of Dick Long

When pitching his previous film Swiss Army Man, director Daniel Scheinert suggested that it was a film where the first fart was hilarious and the last made you cry. It ended up being an odd little film that garnered him and co-director Dan Kwan a cult following. However, the prolonged fart joke did raise another interesting question: how long can one joke be funny? In Scheinert's first solo movie, The Death of Dick Long, he attempts to answer that question with the familiar blend of tragedy and humor as a man tries to hide the embarrassing death of a friend from the public. The incident itself is barbaric, even absurd, but it plays with the familiar struggle of tone in ways that suit the director just fine. The running joke may be far less funny this time around, but it does help to explore a different side of toxic masculinity: living with mistakes that you'll never recover from. It's funny, it's sad, and another minor hit in the anti-comedy landscape.

It isn't long for the titular Dick Long (played by Scheinert in a VERY brief role) to die. It starts at a night of drinking and partying. The audience isn't privy as to how Dick died, but the next scene shows a man being rushed to the hospital. No matter how things would've looked for Zeke Olsen (Michael Abbott Jr.), there would be questions coming back to him. He hides the secret, praying that it's never revealed, in large part because of how poorly it would look upon himself. He would never be able to show his face in public again. He will be the guy with so much notoriety that, for as comical as the situation may play to some, it will consume his life. By the end, it tears apart friendships and forces him to consider leaving behind those nights of drunken foolishness, summarized in the opening moments as "getting weird."

The "death" is itself played as a prolonged punchline throughout the first act. After seeing him dropped in front of a hospital, there's paranoia from Zeke to not share his story. It's a secret that shames him, and in any other circumstance would be seen as sympathetic. The tragedy is often made to connect with those closest to the victim. This incident was not only stupid, but it was also preventable. Dick could've been alive had he not gone into that barn that night in Alabama. Most stories would shy away from the embarrassing death stories. This film revels in it to the point of showing how it impacts Owen's personal life. It first tears him apart before having to open up to the police and even his wife (Virginia Newcomb). As much as hearing the prognostication from Dr. Richter (Roy Wood Jr.) is painful, having to realize that your stupid actions have consequences may hurt more.

The film is labeled a comedy, though it mostly exists as such in the way that the films of Rick Alverson, Quentin Dupiex, or Bobcat Goldthwait do. They're stories that choose to explore the dark side of humanity's core. In fact, to consider Owen's downward spiral a joke is to reflect just how much sympathy he lacks. Still, it's a story that revels in the morbid, trying to find ways for Owen to escape both the literal consequences of his actions (not get arrested) and the ones that are doomed to follow him everywhere. Even if it never got out how Dick died, he would be feeling the pain inside of him, knowing that his childish ways had consequences. It's a film that doesn't stray away from this aspect and in a way makes the film richer. Much like how Swiss Army Man used juvenile humor to show one man's depth of the depression, The Death of Dick Long uses death to show how regret and trauma can come even from situations that are uncomfortable, even too taboo for the cinematic landscape.

To view the film as a drama maybe allows for a more fascinating character study. Owen tries to bury his car in a lake, hoping to mislead the police. However, Dr. Richter's discoveries reveal just how much the incident couldn't be caused by drowning. Owen's grasping at straws, desperately trying to make sense of this situation. His days of drinking with friends are quickly coming to an end, where even the idea of doing the juvenile acts that filled his youth with joy don't feel all that great because of how he'll think back to that incident. As much as the film wants to be a dark comedy, its roots in drama feel more obvious and work, especially as his wife is allowed into the dark mystery. For some, the moment is so shocking that it could only be funny. It's after all how society views dumb injuries a'la Jackass or The Revenant. To try to give depth to that feeling of when it happens to someone directly in your proximity is harder. 

Is Scheinert's first outing away from Kwan a success? It's speculative, even as it fulfills everything it needs to be a satisfying character study mixed with anti-comedy. It strikes a weird tone with a grotesque subject that will turn many off. As far as pacing goes, it's less successful as it's built on suspense and mystery, holding in the metaphorical punchline for as long as possible. Once it's revealed, it's a lot more wallowing in despair. The good news is that Scheinert's attention to dumb Alabaman backwoods characters is so spot on that part of the fun is watching Owen come to terms with things while P.O.D. and Nickelback play in the background. He already had not much going for him and this will only make things worse. For as much as the film falters, it still rattles the viewer and leaves behind an impression that is difficult to understand. Should we sympathize or laugh at Owen? 

The Death of Dick Long is a tough nut to crack and may have bigger issues pleasing fans of the more obviously comedic Swiss Army Man. The titular death is a painful event that keeps being brought up throughout the film, forcing the audience to come to terms with how dark the situation is. Should idiotic death be any less tragic than one of the heroes who didn't die in a drunken haze one night? The muddled text is both the film's strongest asset as well as its hardest selling point. In that way, it's a perfect addition to the anti-comedy genre, meant to make everyone uncomfortable as they delve into the psyche of complicated individuals and situations. One has to wonder what Schienert's work going forward will look like, whether it will be even darker and hard to stomach, or if this was an odd detour into the bleakest possible story for a "comedy" to address. Whatever the case may be, it works well enough to not be a waste of time, though some with weak constitutions may want to not deal with what it has to say.