It’s a non-apologetic B-level Western that delivers exactly what its intended audience will expect from it: shoot-outs, bloody violence, a bit of nudity, and a lot of slow motion.
Robert Bronzi (aka Robert Kovacs) has made a career capitalizing on his resemblance to Charles Bronson. In 2018, he appeared in Death Kiss, where he played the role of “K”, a thinly veiled reference to the Paul Kersey character in the Death Wish series of films. In his third feature film, 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Deadwood, he plays a lone gunfighter who just happens to look like Charles Bronson. The real Charles Bronson once appeared in a film called Once Upon a Time in the West, which was filmed in some of the same locations. A coincidence for sure, right? Probably not.
As the movie opens, we see Bronzi’s character, “The Colonel,” in the midst of a shootout with some unidentified men in a generic-looking Western town. This establishes him as the good guy. Then we’re introduced to Swearengen (Michael Paré,) who has kidnapped a woman and a small child. The woman (Lauren Compton) is forced to work as a prostitute for Swearengen. This establishes him as the bad guy. That’s about as complex as this movie gets.
We then meet Ursula (Karin Brauns) as she tracks down The Colonel. She wants to hire him to rescue the kidnapped woman who, we soon learn, is Ursula’s sister. He’s not interested. In a move copped from Escape from New York, Ursula poisons The Colonel and tells him that he has three days before he will die. He will receive the antidote when he rescues Abigale. Of course, he has little choice but to accept the offer and track down Swearengen to find Abigale (and the antidote.)
Once Upon a Time in Deadwood was directed, edited, and co-written by Rene Perez. Perez also wrote, directed, and edited Death Kiss. That is to say that, if you’re familiar with Perez’ work, you know what you’re getting here. It’s a non-apologetic B-level Western that delivers exactly what its intended audience will expect from it: shoot-outs, bloody violence, a bit of nudity, and a lot of slow motion. A lot of slow motion.
Bronzi can’t speak English very well, but at least this time Perez allows him to use his own voice. (His speaking parts were dubbed by another actor in Death Kiss.) It’s never explained why his character has a foreign-sounding accent. But then again, Ursula — played by the Swedish Karin Brauns — also has an unusual accent. American Michael Paré, however, sounds as if he’s parodying a deep Southern accent. Sadly, though, Bronzi and Paré never share the screen together, so we really never get compare who sounds the silliest.
There are a lot of technical problems with Once Upon a Time in Deadwood. Some of the audio was filmed in a windy environment and the microphones pick up the noise. A scene featuring a suspiciously slack hangman’s noose ruins the intended effect. The same gunshot sound is used every time The Colonel fires his pistol. Most of the dialogue is poorly written and sounds unnatural. And, well, the acting is universally awful.
Still, though, I didn’t hate the movie. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s my fascination with watching an actor blatantly exploit his resemblance to another man by playing similar roles. (And, to be fair, Bronzi does have an imposing screen presence much like the original Bronson.) Maybe it’s because they don’t make brainless Westerns like this anymore. Whatever it is, Once Upon a Time in Deadwood isn’t great but I’ve seen much worse. I’m interested to see more of what Perez and Bronzi come up with.
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
