Too much of everything

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Captivating movie !

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

We're dealing with other persons assuming something. It's always the case but sometimes it drops beyond even our low standards. Than we have a complete mess. This story is a perfect example of it. The characters don't talk much to each other, they study the environment instead to find out what they want to know. They think it's more trustworthy. And then they make conclusions based on what they found. Indeed, this is a sad story of misunderstanding and mistrusting. Excellently told with a lot of art-cinema stuff.

Scuzzy cuckolded bar owner Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya in peak oily form) hires sleazy private detective Visser (marvelously played to the deliciously odious hilt by M. Emmet Walsh) to murder his unfaithful wife Abby (an excellent portrayal by Frances McDormand) and her earnest lover Ray (a solid performance by John Getz). However, human error enters into the equation and things spiral dangerously out of control.Joel and Ethan Coen bring a standard noir situation kicking and screaming into a bright, lurid, and sweaty Texas world in their striking cinematic debut: We've got a dark brooding atmosphere, a colorful array of nicely sordid characters, an absorbing premise that's firmly grounded in a plausibly seamy and starkly amoral workaday reality, inspired touches of wickedly funny black humor, fine use of the dusty'n'desolate Lone Star State terrain, and a serpentine narrative in which a series of bad calls and misunderstandings culminate in a real doozy of a violent and nightmarish climax. The four leads all do sturdy work, with Walsh a particular stand-out as a super slimy worm who's more than willing to kill someone for the right price. Barry Sonnenfeld's gleaming cinematography provides an appropriately garish glittery neon look and boasts lots of sinuous tracking shots. Carter Burwell's spare moody score does the harmonic trick. Essential viewing.

I saw Blood Simple in 1984 and it became immediately one of my favorite movies. I watched it a lot of times since and always found new subtleties at each viewing. Though it could maybe bore people that are used to more mainstream Coen movies, Blood Simple is a remarkable piece of indie art, with a surprising maturity for a first try. Every shot, every editing, every line, every set is skillfully designed with an obvious talent that transcends the classic Noir mainframe. With its hypnotizing pace and music, it delivers a really original experience that gets better and better with time. Even if their later work was always OK (even if I'm really not a fan of their burlesque approach of comedy) the Coen brothers have never been more inspired and inventive than on their three first movies. I hope you'll enjoy Blood Simple as much as I do !

"Blood Simple" marked the first directorial effort of the Coen brothers. As is normally the case, the brothers also co-authored the script. Even at this early stage in their careers, you can see many of the hallmarks that later made modern classics out of films like "Fargo" & "No Country For Old Men".The story harks back to the film noir and hard-boiled detective stories of the 1940's. A love triangle is poised to turn deadly when a jealous husband hires a private investigator to 'dispose' of his rival. Naturally, when blood is involved, things don't turn out to be quite so simple.The plot follows a characteristically serpentine path, prefiguring similarly convoluted plots in movies like "Miller's Crossing" & "The Big Lebowski". While the dialogue may not have quite the polish of these later efforts, there is nevertheless a distinctive flair to the script.Bringing this script to life is a cast that's decent but unexceptional. Dan Hedaya & M. Emmet Walsh are always worth watching but John Getz is a bit of a weak link. Frances McDormand made her film debut here as the requisite femme fatale, albeit an unconventional one. It's a pretty good performance but not one that ranks alongside her best.From a visual standpoint, the movie has several interesting touches sprinkled throughout. However, as with the script, the direction pales just a little in comparison to the Coens' subsequent work. In the music department, apart from a couple of intriguing soundtrack selections the music is mostly unremarkable.While not a first tier Coen brothers effort, "Blood Simple" contains enough of their signature ingredients to make it worthwhile for fans of theirs or just lovers of crime dramas in general. As a debut, it's impressive, even if it is a little rough around the edges.