Brothers in Law
Genre: Western/Dark Comedy
Director: Armando Iannucci
Writer: Jimmy Ellis
A Hill Valley Entertainment Production
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jeff Bridges, Johnny Knoxville, Danny McBride, Pam Ferris
Plot: 1917
In a dense forest in Utah, Daniel McDaniel (Matthew McConaughey) slowly wakes up in his makeshift tent as he hears the sound of a steady stream. He is discombobulated a bit as he expected it to be morning but it is still dark out. A sudden loud ruffling of feathers and scream of horror causes him to instinctively lunge for his revolver. When he gets out, he finds his brother Hud (Johnny Knoxville), nude and holding one leg to his waist. Sticking from the bottom of his left foot is the pointed end of a Sheriff badge and blood streaming down from it. Daniel gives Hud a look of disbelief and Hud says he needed to relieve himself as he hasn't went since they skipped town. And then it just so happened to step on his way back that he stepped this little golden star. He asks what it was doing just laying around and Daniel shrugs, saying he doesn’t need it anymore anyways. Hud says he just remembered he had a question he wanted to ask - how does one wipe out here? Daniel shakes his head, yanks the badge from his brother’s foot, and throws it into the fire.
One Day Earlier
Sheriff Daniel McDaniel sits in the Sheriff's office with his deputy, Willard Wittset (Danny McBride). Daniel eats a sandwich while the two of them chat. This same conversation seems to have happened before as McDaniel’s facial expression seems annoyed. Willard keeps jabbing him about a man by the name of, Foster Seals and when they will finally head on up there for a chat. Daniel looks to Willard and asks if he really wants to take that job, it’s on the border of their jurisdiction and it feels like a waste of their time, he’s never even had a single charge against him. Daniel continues, they have no crimes, just the local drunk now and then and Willard wants the paperwork of talking to Seals. Willard rolls his eyes, saying he thinks he should be their prime suspect, given all the disappearances both here and neighbouring towns have had. Movement is heard from the holding cell next to them as a drunk man gets up and vomits all over the ground. Daniel gets up to knock on the bars telling the drunk to at least aim for the toilet. As Daniel is at the bars Willard bites into Daniel’s sandwich.
After a long day of nothingness Daniel, Willard and the drunk walk out of the office and into the street. All three walk straight to the local saloon and sit at the bar. Daniel sits down and a glass of whiskey is placed in front of him. Willard swears at the bartender asking if he isn’t good enough for him to remember his order. He just gets a beer. You can just tell that Daniel wants nothing to do with any more conversations with Willard. After his one drink Daniel leaves, as he walks the street back to his house, he sees that the door has been broken open. Daniel pulls his gun out and walks cautiously through the door. As he continues walking he hears the shower running. He opens the curtain and aims the gun. Hud falls over in the shower, hitting his head. Daniel turns the taps off and picks his brother up, putting him in a chair.
"I didn't do it," Hud swears. "What didn't you do?". Hud slaps his brother and points to the drawing, where Daniel sees blood mixing with the water down the drain. He stands up and puts his hands on his head before slapping his brother back. Daniel peeks out the window and asks where. "My old lady." Daniel asks to confirm that Hud's girlfriend is dead. Hud shakes his head. “My old lady’s, old lady.”
On his walk home, Deputy Sheriff Willard notices a door open at P.J. Walker's house. P.J. is a known frequent lover of Hud McDaniel. He is taken aback by a repugnant smell that eventually sends him into a violent cough. He comes upon a bedroom where he finds P.J.'s elderly mother dead in a pool of blood. While this initial discovery is horrifying, Willard is distracted by the decomposing body of a coyote - clearly the source of the awful smell. He feels conflicted, walking out of the room and then back in. He personally feels oddly unqualified for this moment. He then makes the mental connection from the dead woman to Hud and realizes he must be the main suspect. He now feels even more conflicted, knowing this involves the family of his boss. He slowly makes his way to Daniel's, nervously practicing his lines along the way. He takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. There is no response. He knocks again. After he's again met with silence, he looks into the windows and finds that no one is home. He wonders: have they skipped town?
Daniel and Hud go to the scene of the crime at P.J.’s home, walking cautiously as to no one sees them. Upon entry Hud immediately throws up, Daniel covers his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. Hud finishes throwing up and shows his brother the body of the old woman. Daniel flips her over, showing a knife on the ground, covered in the blood. She has a large gash on her neck where the knife would’ve been plunged into. Daniel realises the smell isn’t the woman and walks to the coyote, he asks Hud, what the fuck a wild coyote is doing in his girl’s house. Hud shrugs his shoulders. Daniel asks who killed the old woman if it wasn’t him. Hud tells his brother that he won’t believe him, he then points at the coyote before telling him the story.
A drunk Hud walks to P.J.’s home and enters. The old lady (Pam Ferris) tells Hud to fuck off, P.J. isn’t home. Hud laughs as he thinks it’s a joke. He then stands deadly silent as a coyote lurks around the corner. He points at the coyote before running out the door, closing it. The old lady grabs a knife nearby, he realises he left her by herself and storms back in. The old lady swings the knife to hit the coyote but the coyote jumps at her and causes her to stab herself in the neck. The coyote then runs over to Hud, he grabs his gun out but drops it, causing him to wrestle with the coyote. His arm is in the coyote’s mouth as he tries to squirm to the gun. He grabs it and shoots it dead.
Back in the present (Still one day earlier) Daniel asks to see Hud’s arm, there are indeed bite marks. He then walks to the coyote, a bullet hole in its head. He tells Hud that he will get him out of this. In the corner of the room is Willard. He shakes his head asking how Daniel can cover up a murder from his brother. Daniel tries to calm Willard but he won’t listen, convinced Hud killed the old lady. Willard pulls his gun. Daniel and Hud slowly back up before backing into the back door. Daniel sees a brick next to him and throws it at Willard, knocking the gun out of his hand. Daniel and Hud run out the back door and find some horses. They ride away out of town. Willard runs outside and fires his gun but it is of no use.
PRESENT DAY
Hud and Daniel wake up to the sounds of a dog and the voice of a man. The dog begins to bark when it sees Daniel and Hud. The older man (Jeff Bridges) pulls his gun and aims it at the two, he questions their names. They raise their hands and introduce themselves. The man tells them they best be getting off his property. Hud looks around asking him if he owns the goddamn forest. The old man puts the gun in Hud’s face asking if he has a death wish. Daniel speaks up for his brother apologising to the man, he proceeds to ask if the man has a name. “Foster, what’s it to you.” Daniel perks up asking, Foster Seals? Foster nods. Daniel then begins to ask Foster for a favour, if they can stay with him for the time being, a few days maximum. Foster doesn’t like the idea but says he is trying to be a better man, and how better than to help people. “You ain’t cops are ya?” Daniel and Hud look to each other, No.
Foster leads the two men back to his home, still inside of the dense forest, he seems to have built in between the trees. Hud asks him why he lives so far away from the rest of society. Foster just scoffs, he was never accepted there, too many rules, too many people. Hud continues to ask questions leading to a hit over the head from Daniel. They enter inside and a smell quickly makes the two men hold their breath. Foster apologises, it keeps the predators at large.
Willard walks through the forest attempting to track them down. He comes across their camping ground and an old fire. He bends over and sees the remains of the sheriff badge. His old sheriff is truly too far gone.
Foster and the brothers sit around a table, eating some food. The dog growls at Hud as he eats some chicken. Foster tells Hud that he won’t stop till he gives him his food. Hud throws his food on the ground leading to the dog eating it. Daniel begins a conversation with Foster, all the while trying to figure out whether he is trustworthy or what Willard had believed, a murdering piece of scum. Hud wonders aloud what the smell really is. Foster coughs at the question before coming up with the answer. He says that its old cow’s blood, he smothers the house with it to keep the bears away. The brothers see that as a sensible thing to do, after all there are too many cows in Utah.
Willard continues to follow the trail left behind by the brothers. He finally comes across Foster’s house, however being night, he decides to wait it out in the forest. He heads back down the hill and sets up camp, in the distance.
As the sun begins to rise and Hud and Foster sleep, Daniel walks around the house and steps over the snoring dog. He keeps on walking until he walks outside. He sees an outhouse in the distance and walks towards it. As he reaches it he sees a lock on the door. He grabs his gun and busts the lock open. As he enters the smell is sickening, quite literally making Daniel throw up. Blood stains the walls and as he look around he sees the bodies of young women, dead, laying. He continues into the barn and stops in his tracks, he sees PJ Walker’s dead body, and takes a knee, hat on chest. He apologises to her. As he does this Willard appears from behind him and tells him to raise his hands. Daniel turns it on its head praising Willard for being here for backup. He reminds Willard that they have been looking for Foster Seals for a long time, and, this is why. Willard looks around, disgusted at what he sees. He points the gun at P.J asking if its her. Daniel nods, and says they best go get the son of a bitch. As they walk down, vigilantly Willard reminds Daniel that he still has to arrest Hud for murdering the old lady. Daniel, fast thinking tells Willard that that too was Foster, although he knows the real story is much more bizarre. The two of them get to the back door of the house. They peer inside and see Foster standing over Hud, as he sleeps, aiming the shotgun down at his head. Daniel and Willard burst through the door and shoot a few shots at Foster, causing Hud to wake up screaming. Foster turns and fires his shotgun back at the two, some debris taking Willard’s ear clean off. Hud scurries away, behind a pillar. Foster’s dog chases after him and begins biting at his leg. Daniel fires a few more shots toward Foster all that miss. An awkwardly silent moment follows, well almost silent, with Hud’s screams from the dog happening intermittently. Hud grabs a blunt object nearby and hits the dog over the head, causing it to stop. Foster becomes enraged at this and storms over to Hud, being out of cover Daniel stands and fires, but he has no more bullets. He runs toward Foster and tackles him to the ground just as Foster pulls the trigger on his shotgun. Hud pats himself down, finding no wounds or bullet holes, except for the bites in his leg. Daniel does the same, no holes or wounds, but a ringing in his ear. He then looks at his shirt, blood stains the whole thing. He looks to his side and a headless Foster Seals lay next to him, he blew his own head off.
Hud limps back to town with Daniel and his bloody shirt. Willard walks with them head bandaged and ear in hand. As the three of them walk, Hud steps on something and lets out a yell. He raises his foot to show the sheriff’s badge. Daniel yanks it out of his foot and pins it back on his shirt. Willard comes up next to him, yelling that its good to have him back.
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