A once-peaceful frontier town in the United States becomes victor of a vicious attach by outlaw Dutch Albert (John Cusack) and his two followers. The trio begin gunning down their opposition while the town’s Undertaker, Patrick Tate (Emile Hirsch), must chose between the blood money he’s been given for burying the people being murdered and the threat these people bring to his family. An underrated feature that comes highly recommended. Never Grow Old is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Director: Ivan Kavanagh
Writers: Ivan Kavanagh
Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Cucask, Danny Webb
Directed by Ivan Kavanagh and released in the summer of 2019, Never Grow Old takes a somewhat unique spin on the western genre in a multitude of ways. For starters, the film was shot and filmed between two locations, Ireland and Luxembourg, not the typical settings such as the United States or mainland Europe like many films of this nature. The dark, gloomy, and rain-soaked Irish terrain is suited tremendously to the tone and general feel of the flick.
The story can certainly be deemed slow in nature, gradually unravelling throughout the one-hundred minute runtime but at times it was extremely unsettling, with subtle elements of horror injected too. As noted, the unsettling and horror sections separated this from your typical wild western, along with the fact that the action came in a limited, but hard-hitting fashion, with sprinkles of emotion dotted in throughout. This was aided by the fact that the bulk of the scenes took place with little-to-no daylight on display.
Upon finishing the picture, and having read some reviews, there was a prevalent topic of discussion that jumped out among most, that being the accent of Emile Hirsch in his role as Patrick Tate. It’s also something I picked up on after just a few minutes of watching the movie and I’d have to agree that the blend of American-Irish dialogue was a little distracting at times.
In terms of the cast, as previously stated, Emile Hirsch) adopted the role of Patrick Tate, the town’s Undertaker trying to provide for his family and chose between good and evil. John Cusack portrayed Dutch Albert, while his henchmen were made up of Sam Louwyck and Camille Pistone, who featured as Dumb Dumb and Sicily, respectively. Elsewhere, one of, if not the best performance came from Danny Webb who starred as Preacher Pike – an effective and strong act.
All in all, Never Grow Old isn’t your typical low budget recently released modern western. It’s mostly unfamiliar to many film fans and will have more than likely flown under the radar since its initial release. It is, however, worth checking out as it strikes me as something wildly different to other productions in this category. It’s worth noting that Never Grow Old is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
“I’m in need of your services for a private funeral.“
Dutch Albert – Never Grow Old
The DC Review Blog - EST. 2020 