Review of Blood Simple (1985) by Rameshwar N — 18 Feb 2012
My first thoughts watching this was what the Coen Brothers did to the thriller genre is what Tarantino does to whatever genre he does a decade later. There are a huge number of references and inspirations from older similar movies, to be more specific, Hitchcock style movies. It has all elements to succeed for a thriller with minimal characters, simple storyline giving more scope to build a tense atmosphere and featuring able actors.
Ray (John Getz) and Abby (Frances McDormand) are employee and wife respectively of a rich, unpredictable and short tempered bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya). He suspects them of having an affair and hires a private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh) for confirmation. With fragments of truth reaching each character, they display their primal emotions of greed, jealousy, fear, anger and cruelty building up to a bloody conclusion.
The Coen brothers show their inclination towards quirky characters in the investigator from this very first movie but they only come to perfect it in their later movies. However the storytelling prowess has been a gift for them right from start. There are moments so absorbing, its hard to blink an eye even with its simple plot. A special mention goes to cinematography and lighting department. Except for the corny dialogue at the toe end of the movie, it is a perfect execution overall.
Bloody simple, bloody good.
This review of Blood Simple (1985) was written by Rameshwar N on 18 Feb 2012.
Blood Simple has generally received very positive reviews.
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