Ugh. So much griping about what this movie isn't! "It's not a good thriller" "It's not suspenseful" "I like Fargo better" Bring your genre recognition and creative constraints to movies whose scripts never passed through a working brain. There are plenty to choose from.
Thriller? mystery? love triangle..? Who cares? This is simply a good film. I don't care if I can tell you what genre it is. If you like passive viewing this isn't for you. When you kvetch about B.S., all it does is indicate you were a late-comer to the Coens and saw them in non-chronological order after seeing Fargo. I'm so sorry for you.
Boring performances? Not in my opinion. I'm relieved (delighted!) that it's not an "actors" movie with people method-ing up the plot. And I certainly don't watch it to vicariously feel anyones emotions. Pricey & needy name actors would have ruined this movie. (As in Ladykillers) Who cares if they're subdued? It's not about the perfs, it's about the thought you as a viewer bring to it. This is a "post-Method" movie and it's extremely clever and deep.
Plot too intricate? It's less complex than it appears, and much easier to understand than some piece of convoluted tripe like Mission Impossible. SPOILER: The double-cross begins in mid-conversation in M. Emmett Walsh's VW bug.
For me, the pacing is perfect. Any ten minutes of this movie is more thoughtful than plenty of other movies with frantic activity trying to hide their facile nature (Minority Report, O Brother, etc. etc. ad nauseum.) And I do not enjoy any of the fussy, formulaic follow-ups the Coens made after this.
The joy of this movie is watching characters 'complete the picture' incorrectly, and then take action in a way that will be painfully consistent with their assumptions. The movie paints the world as a chilly machine with parts set in motion by human idiocy, and implicates a God indifferent to all manner of human suffering. All of which should sound familiar to anyone who's read Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger.
The spare conceits of this movie are perfectly scaled. It has a minimalist score with some very nice music cues; and three or four sweet camera tricks so quietly inserted that you might miss them, which make me smile.
Thriller? mystery? love triangle..? Who cares? This is simply a good film. I don't care if I can tell you what genre it is. If you like passive viewing this isn't for you. When you kvetch about B.S., all it does is indicate you were a late-comer to the Coens and saw them in non-chronological order after seeing Fargo. I'm so sorry for you.
Boring performances? Not in my opinion. I'm relieved (delighted!) that it's not an "actors" movie with people method-ing up the plot. And I certainly don't watch it to vicariously feel anyones emotions. Pricey & needy name actors would have ruined this movie. (As in Ladykillers) Who cares if they're subdued? It's not about the perfs, it's about the thought you as a viewer bring to it. This is a "post-Method" movie and it's extremely clever and deep.
Plot too intricate? It's less complex than it appears, and much easier to understand than some piece of convoluted tripe like Mission Impossible. SPOILER: The double-cross begins in mid-conversation in M. Emmett Walsh's VW bug.
For me, the pacing is perfect. Any ten minutes of this movie is more thoughtful than plenty of other movies with frantic activity trying to hide their facile nature (Minority Report, O Brother, etc. etc. ad nauseum.) And I do not enjoy any of the fussy, formulaic follow-ups the Coens made after this.
The joy of this movie is watching characters 'complete the picture' incorrectly, and then take action in a way that will be painfully consistent with their assumptions. The movie paints the world as a chilly machine with parts set in motion by human idiocy, and implicates a God indifferent to all manner of human suffering. All of which should sound familiar to anyone who's read Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger.
The spare conceits of this movie are perfectly scaled. It has a minimalist score with some very nice music cues; and three or four sweet camera tricks so quietly inserted that you might miss them, which make me smile.