''How to Be Deadly'' is a 2014 Canadian comedy film, directed by

Nik Sexton Nicholas Carlo Herbert Sexton (born March 1980) is a Canada, Canadian film and television director from Newfoundland and Labrador.Conor McCann"Love, death and COVID-19: How a mother and son honoured their family with a new documentary" CBC News ...

. The film stars Leon Parsons as Donnie Dumphy, an unemployed slacker in St. John's,

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, who enters a

minibike A minibike is a two-wheeled, motorized, off-highway recreational vehicle popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, but available continuously from a wide variety of manufacturers since 1959. Their off-highway nature and (in many countries) typically ent ...

competition in the hopes of winning back his ex-girlfriend Brenda (Gina Cook) after she breaks up with him due to his lack of ambition. The cast also includes Ashley Billard, Dan Bochart, Robbie Carruthers, Kate Corbett, Sean Dalton, Lisa Doucette, Dominique Girouard, Annie Hennessey, Andy Jones,

Cathy Jones Catherine Frederica "Cathy" Jones (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian actress, comedian and writer. She is known for her work for 28 years on the Canadian television series '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. Jones left the show in 2021. Early life a ...

, Dennis Kavanah, Susan Kent, Greg Malone, Mary Walsh,

Andrew Younghusband Andrew Younghusband (born December 14, 1970, in Canberra, Australia) is a Canadian television personality, writer and journalist best known as the host of the reality shows '' Canada's Worst Driver,'' '' Canada's Worst Handyman,'' '' Don't Drive ...

and

Rick Mercer Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, Political satire, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' ...

in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2014

Atlantic International Film Festival The Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. AIFF is the largest Canadian film festival east of Montreal, regularly premiering the region's top films of ...

, and went into commercial release in 2015.

Production

The lead character had previously appeared in numerous short comedy videos that the filmmakers had posted to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, including a music video called "Havin' a Time". A 15-minute short film version of ''How to Be Deadly'' screened at the

2012 Toronto International Film Festival The 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 16, 2012. TIFF announced the films that were accepted on August 21, 2012. On its 37th edition the TIFF included a 2 ...

,Danielle Ng See Quan
"Newfoundland gets Deadly with Donnie Dumphy"
'' Playback'', August 29, 2013. and the full feature film version went into production in 2013 in St. John's and

Mount Pearl Mount Pearl is the fourth-largest municipality and second-largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The city is located southwest of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the isla ...

. In addition to being described in its short film showing at TIFF as "the Newfoundland ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary television sitcom created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park resi ...

''-slash-''

Fubar Military slang is a colloquial language used by and associated with members of various military forces. This page lists slang words or phrases that originate with military forces, are used exclusively by military personnel or are strongly associa ...

''", the feature film also served as an unofficial tribute to the Newfoundland sketch comedy troupe ''

CODCO ''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.Tommy Sexton Thomas Sexton (July 3, 1957 – December 13, 1993) was a Canadian comedian. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland, he was the youngest member of the ''CODCO'' comedy troupe. Educated in St. John's, he was an honours student before quitting after Grad ...

, the troupe's deceased member, was Nik Sexton's uncle and producer

Mary Sexton Mary Sexton is a Canadians, Canadian film and television producer, who is partnered with Edward Riche in Rink Rat Productions and with Mary Walsh (actress), Mary Walsh in 2M Innovative. She is best known for her 2001 National Film Board documentar ...

's brother.

Awards

The film won the

Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. Th ...

for Best Feature Film at the

16th Canadian Comedy Awards The 16th Canadian Comedy Awards, presented by the Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence (CCFE), honoured the best live, television, film, and Internet comedy of 2014. The awards were presented in Toronto, Ontario, on 13 September 2015. C ...

in 2015."How to Be Deadly among local Canadian Comedy Award winners"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

Newfoundland and Labrador, September 14, 2015. Sexton was also nominated for Best Direction in a Feature Film.

References

External links

*{{imdb title, 4022208 2014 films 2014 comedy films Canadian comedy films English-language Canadian films 2010s Canadian films Films shot in Newfoundland and Labrador Films set in Newfoundland and Labrador Films directed by Nik Sexton