Never Grow Old is a 2019 Revisionist Western film written and directed by Ivan Kavanagh. It stars Emile Hirsch, Déborah François, John Cusack, Danny Webb, Tim Ahern and Sam Louwyck.
A once-peaceful frontier town becomes a den of vice after vicious outlaw Dutch Albert and his gang arrive and begin gunning down their opposition. Undertaker Patrick Tate must now choose between the blood money he makes burying the murderers' victims and the threats he and his family face as the death toll continues to rise.
Tropes:
- Abnormal Ammo: Patrick goes after Dutch wielding a blunderbuss loaded with a mixture of coffin nails and two silver dollars.
- BFG: Preparing for his showdown with Dutch, Patrick walks into the general store and asks for a gun that will kill the maximum number of people with a single shot. He walks out of there with a blunderbuss.
- Cramming the Coffin: After he strangles Dumb-Dumb, Patrick hides his body in Emily Crabtree's coffin under her body.
- Dawn of the Wild West: The film is set on the California Trail in 1849.
- Dry Crusader: The Christian Temperance League has taken over the town of Garlow and banned alcohol, gambling and whores.
- Due to the Dead: Dutch wakes Patrick in the middle of the night and requests two coffins. He takes Patrick to a dugout hole where he kills Bill Crabtree and one other man, and then has Patrick give them a proper burial. Dutch's twisted concepts of friendship and honour demand that he see them properly buried even though he murdered them, because they used to be his friends.
- Gambling Brawl: Dutch cleans out a young man in cards who cannot pay his debt. When Dutch refuses to let him leave, he pulls a gun, so Dutch kills him. He claims to have killed the boy in self-defense, and no one says otherwise.
- Hanging Around: Mrs Crabtree's daughter is hanged in the middle of town after she kills her first client as a prostitute. As the town carpenter, Patrick is the one commissioned to build the gallows.
- In Medias Res: The opening scene has Patrick standing in front of the burnt-out saloon with its tattered American flag. He then hefts his blunderbuss and strides across the road and into the church where a voice is reading out a bible verse. The movie then flashes back to several months earlier to explain How We Got Here.
- Money Mauling: When he goes after Dutch, Patrick loads a blunderbuss with coffin nails and the two silver dollars Dutch gave him to bury the sheriff.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Dutch's two henchmen, Dumb-Dumb (who is The Speechless) and Sicily (who doesn't speak English). Dutch himself just averts this; giving his full name as Christopher 'Dutch' Albert during the 'friendship ceremony' with Patrick.
- One Free Hit: At one point Patrick confronts Dutch with a gun, and Dutch invites him to go ahead and take the shot, saying Patrick doesn't have it in him. Dutch also instructs Sicily to let Patrick go if he does shoot, so Patrick faces no consequence if he does kill Dutch. After a minute, Patrick backs down.
- Preacher Man: Preacher Pike runs the Christian Temperance League and is the de facto ruler of Garlow.
- Public Execution: Mrs Crabtree's daughter is hanged in the middle of town after she kills her first client as a prostitute. As the town carpenter, Patrick is the one commissioned to build the gallows.
- The Sheriff: Sheriff Parker is the sheriff of Garlow, and is regarded by most of the residents as useless. However, he is caught between the religious fanatic Preacher Man who rules the town, and corrupting outlaw looking to turn the town into a Wretched Hive. He does his best to uphold the law, even when he does not agree with it, such as overseeing Emily Crabtree's hanging. He is eventually killed trying to bring Dutch and Sicily in, despite knowing the situation is hopeless.
- Shoot the Dog: Patrick has to put down his family's only horse after it gets sick. The sheriff offers to do it for him, but Patrick opts to do it himself.
- "Shut Up!" Gunshot: Following the first murder, The Sheriff silences the noisy saloon by firing a shot into the ceiling.
- Small-Town Tyrant: Initially, Preacher Pike is the de facto ruler of Garlow: trying to turn it into his vision of paradise on Earth by banning alcohol, gambling and whores. When Dutch Albert moves and starts turning the town in a Wretched Hive, he challenges Pike for the position of most powerful man in Garlow. Throughout, the Sheriff remains caught between the two of them.
- The Speechless: Dutch's henchman Dumb-Dumb can't speak because his tongue was cut out by a Cherokee.
- Title In: The In Medias Res opening ends with Patrick striding into the the church. As he disappears inside, the caption "Town of Garlow, The California Trail, 1849" appears, and then the opening credits roll.
- Tongue Trauma: Dutch's henchman Dumb-Dumb can't speak because his tongue was cut out by a Cherokee.
- Undertaker: Patrick Tate is a carpenter and undertaker in the small frontier of Garlow. His business starts booming when Dutch Albert and his gang take over the town and start turning it into a Wretched Hive.
- Vapor Trail: Preacher Pike pours a trail of oil along the front of the saloon and then ignites it with a thrown flaming torch.
- Villainous Crush: Dutch's hulking and mute henchman Dumb-Dumb develops a disturbing obsession with Patrick's wife Audrey.
- Water Wake Up: Dutch returns to the innkeeper in the middle of the night and buys his hotel to turn it back into a saloon; waking him up flicking water on to his face.
- Wretched Hive: Garlow starts to turn into this after Dutch Albert and his gang settle in town, reopen the saloon and import a wagon-load of whores.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: After Dutch shoots The Sheriff, Patrick confronts him with a gun. Dutch tells him that he hasn't the stomach to kill anyone; even offering him a free shot and instructing Sicily to let Patrick go if he succeeds in killing him. After a moment, Patrick drops the gun and walks away.
