Deaner '89 is a 2024 Canadian action comedy film directed by Sam McGlynn. It stars Paul Spence, Star Slade, Will Sasso, and Mary Walsh. Spence plays Dean Murdoch, a metalhead character from the FUBAR series.[2]
In 1989, Murdoch and his sister first become interested in heavy metal music, soon after learning that their adoptive parents have hidden from them that they are Indigenous. Dean is Métis[5] and his sister is Blackfoot. They go on a trip to Calgary to see a band.
The film's content related to Indigenous identity was partly inspired by Spence's own family history. His father was adopted into a non-Indigenous family in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and only learned as an adult that his parents were Métis (and that his ancestor, Scottish-Métis leader Andrew Spence, had been part of the North-West Resistance).[6] According to Spence, "It seemed like such a natural fit to take some of my father's stories, as well as my own, to create something fun and funny, but that also had some heart and authenticity — where audiences will laugh their asses off, but also learn something about Canada's complicated history."[7]
Reception
Thom Ernst of Original Cin gave the film a B- and wrote, "The comedy here doesn't pull punches — big gags, big cameos, big laughs. Not all of it works, but when it does, it works beautifully."[8]
Andrew Parker of TheGATE.ca gave the film a score of 3 out of 10, writing, "Unassured, scattered, and trying too hard to relive past glories while simultaneously failing to make viewers forget about everything that came before, Deaner '89 is a messy vanity project that never settles on a satisfying hook on which to hang all of its tired jokes about metal heads, hosers, and givin'r."[9]
Richard Crouse was more positive, awarding the film 3.5/5 stars, asserting that Spence "weaves humor into every scene, but never settles for the easy joke."[10]
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