Runtime:
96 minutes (the Director's Cut, anyhow, which is what I watched)
Directed
by: Joel, Ethan Coen
Starring:
John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh, Samm-Art
Williams
From:
River Road Productions
I
decided to do something different from the odd genre films I've
watched the past few weeks. I instead watched this movie for the
first time (I know, I know) due to it being shown last night on the
MGMHD channel. I figured that was perfect for me as I had a feeling
this would be the sort of movie I'd like from the Coen's, a duo that
to be honest I usually don't care for.
The
plot, even though I am sure most know it: A bar owner in Texas
(Hedaya) discovers that his wife (McDormand) is cheating with one of
his employees (Getz, he looks like a cross between John Ritter and
Tommy Lee Jones). He asks a big lout of a private investigator
(Walsh) to murder his wife and her lover for 10,000 bucks. But things
really go awry as much confusion and misunderstandings happen-even
with me a few times-and things get real hot and sweaty in the middle
of nowhere, Texas.
Despite
some moments that made me go “huh?” and I can't fully explain it,
this was a film I did manage to enjoy quite a bit; I am glad I
finally saw it. The movie certainly is great at such things as mood,
atmosphere, tension... and sweatiness. Some guys sweat quite a bit in
the Lone Star State. Walsh's character was definitely the most
memorable. He was loud, obnoxious, boisterous, but also scary at
times, although not as much so as Hedaya. He looked real angry and
real creepy at times.
What
is the most impressive besides the cast being small and yet the movie
not being boring or how this was the debut for the Coen's is that
there are long stretches of no dialogue and yet you never lose
interest in the film. There's one stretch in particular that is like
longer than 10 minutes and while the only voices you hear is music
and then DJ chatter from a radio station, and yet that was always
suspenseful due to what was going on. The score and various sound
effects (even the loud motion of ceiling fans) always made things
interesting and helped make things not dull.
As
this was the Director's Cut (which is actually a few minutes shorter
than the original version) it allowed them to be able to use the Four
Tops' It's The Same Old Sound to memorable effect; they weren't able
to do that for rights reasons since it was originally in theatres.
Like I said, it was about time I saw this.
I'll
be back Monday night.
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