by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent
(September 4, 2024 – Toronto, ON) There’s a sense of urgency in pleading with critics to refrain from using the ‘F-word’ when describing Deaner ’89. The ‘F-word, in this case, is Fubar. And yet Deaner ’89, the new film from actor/writer Paul Spence and directed by Sam McGlynn, looks, acts, and sounds like the word we’re meant to avoid.
Deaner ’89 is not part of the Fubar franchise.
And that’s when it dawned on me: Fubar had become a franchise. How often does that happen in the Canadian film scene? Offhand I think of Prom Night, Saw, Scanners, Silent Hill, The Cube, Trailer Park Boys, and Resident Evil—a slim number considering Canada’s been making movies for over a century. Fubar, with two feature films, plus a television series, adds one more title to fatten the list. It’s a remarkable achievement for a Canadian independent film that began as a faux documentary about a pair of heavy-metal headbangers.
Deaner ’89 is a stand-alone film, and no references to Fubar (2002) and Fubar II: Balls to the Wall (2010) should be made when discussing the film. Had it gone unsaid, it would have been an easy trap to fall into, given that the lead character is Dean Murdoch (Spence), the central character in the Fubar films. The films are the same, but different.
Ironically, both Fubar films were directed by Michael Dowse, who went on to make The ‘F’ Word. The ‘F’ Word is also a movie with no connection to the franchise.
There is one more observation before dropping the forbidden F-word references: Fubar and Fubar II are given the mockumentary treatment, whereas Deaner ’89 is presented as a straight-up narrative bookended by a fictitious interview with Dean as the talking head relating a story about his professional and personal choices.
Again, Spence stars as Dean Murdoch, the likable, defiant headbanger we’ve known from the beginning. However, without the observational benefit of a faux-documentary exposition, Deaner ’89 can feel less authentic.
Deaner ’89 is an origin story with a heavy slant toward identity politics.
It’s told in flashbacks, which is true of all origin stories. Dean, “The Deaner” Murdoch, is younger this time. Well, he’s ostensibly younger, which is part of the joke—we are told that, as a teenager, Dean had a condition that made him incredibly good-looking and slightly older than 17. He’s also a phenomenal hockey player.
The comedy in Deaner ’89 is comfortable with subtlety. Big gags, big cameos play for big laughs—and most of it works. Mary Walsh appears as an aging head-banging, beer can shot-gunning matron, Stephen McHattie as an unsavoury hockey scout, and Kevin McDonald as a befuddled high-school principal. Music fans might recognize a cameo from Brent Fritz, former drummer for Slash’s band, Conspirators.
Will Sasso plays Dean’s adopted father. Sasso does a great turn as a functional alcoholic, a role that is layered with good intentions and bad choices. Then, there is Dean’s adoring and much adored adopted younger sister, Jen (Star Slade)—Dean and Jen bond as siblings and as two Indigenous children raised by non-Indigenous parents. But when a trunk arrives from Dean’s deceased father carrying heavy metal music and paraphernalia, Dean discovers a world unbeknownst to him. The discovery fuels—in both Dean and Jen—a desire to learn more about their heritage.
There are many moments in the film that charm, make us laugh and occasionally even dazzle. Deaner ’89 is a perfectly acceptable and accessible stand-alone rock ‘n roll comedy.
I get that Deaner ’89 is a separate project from the other Fubar installments. It’s made by a different director and written solely by Paul Spence. But can we agree that if Deaner ’89 is not part of a larger franchise, can we at least agree that it shares the same universe?
Deaner ’89 is directed by Sam McGlyn and stars Paul Spence, Star Slade, Will Sasso, Mary Walsh, Stephen McHattie, and Kevin McDonald.
Watch the trailer and learn more about Deaner ’89, which opens in theatres on Friday, September 6, 2024.
Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is also a contributor to Original Cin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies on TVOntario.
