and Mongrel Media
VOD Release Date: Dec 6
Deaner ’89 is not part of the Fubar continuity and fans of the latter shouldn’t be disappointed. Maybe that’s how Dean Murdoch (played by Paul Spence, who wrote this film) simply remembers it! After guzzling so many beers and head banging for so long, my theory for keeping this work apart from the rest is because it’s all imagined in this guy’s head while in a coma.
And technically, without that cameo by Terry Cahill (Dave Lawrence) to connect with that world, this film truly exists in its own universe. It also interestingly tackles a much more difficult subject–cultural misappropriation. Despite the theme being only lightly explored, the father’s revelation, humorously played by Will Sasso, makes a significant point. Also, without Stephen McHattie, a beloved icon of Canadian cinema, no such film can be complete!
The agency the parents adopted Dean and Jen (Star Slade) from said they would raise them like white folk. Since I’ve seen many products about preserving each individual’s roots, and it is showing up in other produced works from this country, it suggests that this concern is gaining more ground to encourage remembering this past rather than sweeping it under the rug.
And when brother and sister (both coming from different families but adopted together) learn about their indigenous past, and decide it’s time to go discover it, the road trip portion of the film makes up the best part! Although Sam McGlynn, the director, chose not to emphasize Jen’s desire to rediscover herself, I hope she can get her own story. After how her significance gets an abrupt “end,” she’s remembered by Murdoch in the present setting, and I want to know where the end of her heavy metal journey
Although the presentation is rather scattered and very focussed on Dean than that of the family unit–what’s presented has enough moments to show how the music lives on. The tunes are all from the golden and silver age (70s to 80s) and with some tracks performed by Spence’s in-house band for this film, everything is (still) rock’ n roll to me! I’m sure Billy Joel will approve, too.
4 Stars out of 5
Deaner ’89 Trailer
