Tribeca Film Festival 2023: BUCKY F**CKING DENT

There were a lot of actors turning out their directorial debuts for the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and for David Duchovny, it was his film Bucky Fucking Dent. With his debut, Duchovny focuses on the timeless dynamic of the father-son relationship. Yet, as broken as it seems to be, the relationship between Marty and Ted is not as easy to define as good and bad, black or white. As Duchovny works audiences through his narrative and more information is presented, Marty and Ted do not rewrite their history, but rather take on a new perspective. The film is as imperfect as the relationship it is focused on, yet finds the deepest success in the purity of its resolution. Fantastical yet relatable, Bucky Fucking Dent is a moving debut by David Duchovny.

Crafted with Heart

Bucky Fucking Dent opens in 1950 something, a father watching the ballgame on the TV, his son (Liam Garten) clearly yearning for his attention. Yet his father never rewards his attempts, immediately crafting the composition of an absent and distant father before the story has even begun. Duchovny works on our preconceived notions of the image we are seeing and the lack of connectivity it has conjured. As an audience we take this simple opening and craft our perceptions of the boy’s father, cementing our feelings before every truly diving in. It works to allow the audience to venture on the same journey as Ted (Logan Marshall-Green), allowing us to rewrite what we have already ourselves decided upon.

As the film transitions to 1978, baseball stays heavily rooted in Bucky‘s opening, Ted, now an adult, selling peanuts to spectators at the ball game. The same energy carries from the opening scene, Ted’s performance for the attention of an audience being rewarded by those around him. Yet, not all are taken with Ted, his book was rejected due to its vacant plot and empty content. The film works to build his struggles, the multiple rejection notices on his wall speaking not just to his failed attempts, but to his perseverance – an aspect that will come strongly into play as he tries all he can to reconnect with his father and keep him alive.

With a strong establishing opening, Bucky Fucking Dent moves quickly to introduce not only father Marty (David Duchovny), but the estranged relationship between father and son. Ted learns that his father has been fighting terminal cancer, and death specialist Mariana (Stephanie Beatriz) helping him to prepare for the end. Initially, both Duchovny and Marshall-Green feel unauthentic and awkward in their interactions, Duchovny‘s Marty shining bright through his eyes contrasting our expectations for a patient close to death. Yet, as the film plays out, once again Duchovny works on our preconceived notions of death – what we expect a dying patient to look like. Once again, Bucking Fucking Dent builds depth in its narrative and character interactions as it asks its audience to watch with a new perspective, proving itself genuinely authentic and playing deeply to its themes of rewriting one’s story.

And while the chemistry between Duchovny and Marshall-Green feels off in the beginning, there is a duality of emotions paying against one other. Both a father and son live with a lifetime of regrets, many that they quietly fear may never be rectified. There is a subtle awareness that the relationship between father and son is far from a one-sided battle, both entering into the final moments to make it right. As the narrative plays out, Bucky Fucking Dent becomes more of an exploration of human emotion and the need to connect. The film boasts an awkward chemistry between Duchovny and Marshall-Green, one that at first gives the film a hollow feel, but settles into an authenticity as the relationship of father and son. And from this comes a dynamic pairing that grows as its characters do.

Conclusion:

Bucky F*cking Dent sat with me for a while, a deep richness that rises from its core, delivering a satisfying and equally cathartic ending. The film does have its issues, but it’s the depth of the heart that will ease even the coldest audience member to overlook its faults and enjoy the fantastical journey of reconnection and rediscovery.

Watch Bucky F*cking Dent