Let's Begin...
Blood Simple
PLOT
We open with a man and a women, Ray and Abby, who both confess their love for each other and hook up. The problem? Abby is married to Julian Marty, who owns the bar Ray works at. Marty knows this and hires a private detective to kill them both. One faked picture and double-cross later, and Marty is dead with Ray left to deal with the body and the consequences. From this point on, the simple story becomes anything but.
PROS
Even with their first film, the Coens still have their iconic style and dark humor. The dialogue is great along with the memorable characters, while not as quirky as later works, it's still here in some fashion.
The actors do an awesome job, the stand out being Frances McDormand, who later plays Marge in Fargo. She may not seem like much at the beginning, but the finale really cements her as a great actress and character.
There is some very interesting camera work here, and it's not hard to see knowing their influences. I recently found out that the Coens are friends, have worked with, and are influenced by Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-man and Evil Dead trilogies. Raimi is a master at the inventive and cool camera shot, and the Coens don't disappoint here. One great shot is when there's a close up of McDormand falling, as she's in mid fall, the background seamlessly changes to her bedroom, ending the fall onto her bed.
The film is very tense, some scenes being down right scary. After the faked death, almost every scene is full of tension and fear. You never know what's going to happen next. There's one very tense scene that almost entirely resembles the dead body pulling scene from Fargo, except how the scene ends is different.
I've never really noticed this about the Coens' films, but each of them have a very distinct score and soundtrack, and this one does not disappoint. The score in particular is very creepy and tense.
CONS
All of the cons I can think of are mostly insignificant nit-picks. Oh well.
CONCLUSION
This is not only a great film, but absolutely amazing for first time directors. It's also short, clocking in at just over an hour and a half, but they use the time to it's fullest. This thriller is just that, a thrilling experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the exciting end. I highly recommend this.
RATING
WALK TO
Miller's Crossing
PLOT
Tom Regan is a trusted adviser for powerful prohibition-era crime boss Leo. Leo is soon finding new competition with wannabe crime boss Johnny Casper, who turns on Leo after he refuses to kill a bookie named Bernie. Tom tries to convince Leo to reconsider, but looses his trust in the process. When he tries to join with Casper, Tom's first task to show loyalty is to kill Bernie. Tom lets Bernie go and gets involved in a crime war he never wanted.
PROS
Once again, this film has the same style on script that the Coens are famous for. The dialogue is sharp and snappy, the characters are memorable, and it has some of that good ol' fashioned dark humor.
Again, the actors are great and do amazing jobs all around. This films stand out is John Turturro as Bernie. His character seems out there and wacky, but half way through, he has a major tone switch and really sells it.
The action, what little of it is there, is very exciting while still being realistic.
I would put more, but I would just be rehashing what I said in the Blood Simple review. So read that again.
CONS
The plot was a bit confusing. They speak so fast and with many different accents that's it's sometime hard to tell what's happening or what character their talking about. Upon further research, I did find that I was close in understanding what was going on, but a lot of it was guess work. I appreciate that they don't want to hand-hold you through the movie, but this was a bit much.
CONCLUSION
Even though the movie has some plot problems, over all it's a very good film that's hard not to enjoy. It's a classic, lovable gangster story with a Coen brothers twist. Highly recommend it to everyone.
RATING
WALK TO
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