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You could be excused for forming extremely modest expectations for this crime flick given the promotional image’s predictably somber visuals showing star Seann William Scott gripping a gun with an electricity pylon in the background. What a pleasant revelation to find out this is actually a humorous film, and even more, one that’s often humorous in a masculine, improv sort of way.

The Concept

The setup is that in the small Tennessee town of Colt Lake, a man is killed in the street, run over by a car so many times that he looks like meatloaf. Clueless but kindly local cop Sam Evans, played by Johnny Simmons, and his deputy DJ, brought to life by Chance Perdomo, make a feeble attempt at solving the case, but are soon upstaged when special agent Bobby Gaines, embodied by Seann William Scott, suddenly arrives, representing a regional law enforcement unit and assumes control of the case.

Unique Techniques

Gaines’ approaches may be a little on the violent side and not strictly according to protocol, but he obtains confessions surprisingly fast and soon progresses through the certainly short criminal hierarchy until he finds the main bad guy. There are a few twists, but the crime plot is of far lesser importance than the rustic banter: a constant stream of men insulting each other, questioning one another’s manhood, and generally labeling each other as local underachievers.

Fact or Fiction?

Opening titles at the beginning states that this 2008 story was inspired by actual events, but that may hold as much water as the claim at the start of the classic Fargo film. And it’s possible—maybe one of the antagonists really did have a girlfriend named Destiny, portrayed by Jett Wilder, who strolled around during confrontations playing the banjo, and that Sam had a soft spot for Izzy, played by Lovi Poe, the town official’s daughter, and her gorgeous collection of textured sweaters.

Directorial Flair

But the unusual details around the edges give the film flavor, regardless of whether they’re rooted in truth, and director Michael Diliberti and his film cutter have a talent for trimming in just the right place to emphasize a joke. The last few miles of the script are more than a little foreseeable, but this isn’t at all bad for a directorial debut.

Bad Man is on digital platforms from 22 September.