First Movie by the brothers Joel & Ethan Coen. Watching a blu-ray of the movie, it opens with an odd intro, basically saying how due to the decentness of the film, they cleaned up the video and audio and did some minor edits to improve the overall experience. Seemed to do a good enough job with it, I didn’t have the best recollection from previous viewings a long time back. So yeah, don’t watch an old VHS copy of this, that version is garbage. This one? Cinematic Gold! Well, maybe silver with a bronze tint.
Texas. Favorite past-time: Fan-watchin. Fact. Where, according to the opening voice-over, You’re on your own. And that rings pretty true for the main characters here. Dude runnin a rich guy’s bar runs off with rich guy’s wife. Unbeknownst (but kinda knownst), there’s a P.I. on their trail. And a real piece of work, that guy is. Sleazy as a P. Martini, but at least he has a good sense of humor. And he does his job. And maybe more than his job. Because keepin up a Volkswagen bug is expensive!
This really seems to establish the beginnings of the Coen brother’s style, from simple establishing wide shots to a few nice dynamic camera angles worked in. Nothing crazy, but enough to take it up a notch from your basic crime drama types. M. Emmet Walsh (Blade Runner, Fletch, Back to School) does a fantastic job as the rather unscrupulous Investigator, and the scorned douchebag of a husband done well by Dan “Nick Tortelli” Hedaya. Plus Frances McDormand makes her big screen debut here, adequately handling the task and going on to star in many other Coen brothers movies to follow, most notably Fargo, Raising Arizona, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and Burn After Reading. No real surprise, she married Joel Coen the same year this was made, so while she may not be the flashiest of actresses, she is certainly capable. Kinda dry overall, the main lead is a bit generic but competent, but M. Emmet Walsh definitely gives this one the extra panache it needs.
