The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
The story of a bar owner, his wife, her lover the bartender, and the private investigator.
Joel and Ethan Coen are just like Mario and Luigi, they're super. With a debut film like Blood Simple, the Coen Brothers do it all and then some.
The editing. There's a ceiling fan shot that changes over to a scene In a bed, a finger press of an answering machine turning into a finger in the back seat of a car, and a newspaper that hits the door like a ton of bricks when dark news is delivered. Can you say, fucktastic editing?
The music. What a mix. One part is early 80's piano pop. I guess it's a piano. You hear the…
LITERALLY ONE OF MOST GORGEOUS AND DARKLY HILARIOUS MOVIES I'VE EVER SEEN. I'm so glad the theater I saw this in was completely packed. This was the most fun I've had seeing a movie in a theater full of people!!! I love movies so much oh my god.
Noir-November Challenge! Movie #47
Joel and Ethan Coen's directorial debut throws more curves at you than the legendary curveball master Sandy Kofaux!
I wanted to say M. Emmet Walsh really NAILED his role as the sleazy private eye but after recalling the infamous window sill scene perhaps that distinction truly belongs to Frances McDormand!
Fate dispenses a world of hurt on folks caught up in a shit storm of deception, lust and greed in this twisted southern gothic noir!
A few of these folks are suffering from a terminal case of the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!
i can't believe the coen brothers invented anxiety in 1984??? THIS ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK.....
"I need unguent" - Steve Does The Coens
As awful as I found The Counselor to be, something good will come of it.
The subsequent discussion/scrum in the comments led to discussions about Cormac McCarthy and then No Country For Old Men. Then I started thinking, "Now there's a film I need to rewatch. Hmm, there are some Coens I haven't seen yet as well. Really need to get round to Barton Fink. And A Serious Man. It's been a few years since I've seen Fargo as well. And The Man Who Wasn't There. I wonder...."
And thus the decision was made to wade through all of the films directed by one or both of the Coens in chronological order,…
This movie has such a great tone. It's moody without being overly so. It's swift and easy going, while also containing a slow boil and brilliant atmosphere.
From Joel Coen's wonderful direction to their equally wonderful way with words, to the beautiful piano laced score, the small little background details and ways the actors play off each other, to managing to be intense and shocking using as little as possible (a sequence involving a shovel was the most intense I've been watching something in awhile).
It's amazing to me that a movie this good was their first, but then again, they are two of the best filmmakers working, so I shouldn't be that surprised.
Plus, it's always the sign of a great film that as soon as it was over, it felt like it had only started and I was more than willing to watch it again.
Highly recommend.
Great debut from the Coen Brothers. Also a great acting debut from Frances McDormand! From how good she is you wouldn't think this was her first role in a film. I love how the story starts really straightforward but builds itself on the simple misunderstandings between the characters, and eventually gets complicated. It's darkly comical but not in the laugh-out-loud way. Also some very tense and scary moments. You can never really guess where the story is going to go and I liked that. The score is really good too and is probably my favourite thing about the film. Definitely check out this overlooked gem.
The Coen Brother’s debut is a pretty solid movie, and I can understand why people like it so much even though I personally liked it a bit less. The editing, camera work, music, acting, plot, and basically everything is so well done. They know how to make a movie presentable, and write the most awful characters. The private eye does such a good job at his role that I genuinely hated him, and I kept rooting for different people throughout the whole movie. The last 10 minutes are iconic, and I think it’s one of the most intense scenes in a movie ever. Lots of positives, but personally I didn’t care for this movie as much as others. I honestly…
I watched Frances McDormand's interview about working on this movie on Filmstruck before watching the movie and god, she's just the coolest. She also talks about her public and private collaborations (what a way to talk about a multi-decade marriage!) with Joel and I fully died. Anyway, I love the way she described their working relationship built on trust and comfort! When she said she wasn't comfortable with being nude on screen, and they were like cool you don't have to be nude. We love compromises and acknowledgement of comfort zones!
I know she admits that Abby doesn't have much to do in this movie and that her performance was a little stiff but I'd protect her with my L I F E! I personally liked McDormand's performance. Vacillating between filling the silence with nervous chatter and being dead silent/wide eyed from fear works here! Anyway, I love you mom!!!
It's too bad they didn't have texting in 1984, otherwise the characters could have ignored each other's messages and had the exact same conflicts
A nice bridge between the noir films that inspired the Coens and the 80s/90s thrillers that grew out of the genre. Frances McDormand plays a character that would have been a femme fatale based on how the men around her cause their own demise, but she is much less complicit. Later on she would probably be the sole protagonist as a victim. The Coens manage to make all four main characters take turns as the lead whose perspective the movie is told from. That narrative weave makes the simple story feel more complete, with every action making sense from all sides.
The script is also enjoyable in how it uses details to shape the story. Counting the bullets in the…
what do you guys think was it like for joel to watch his wife having sex with another guy in a movie he wrote and directed in the year of their wedding?
3.5: Stars
2.5: Watches
To think this was the first movie the Coen Brothers made is insane because its got all the different pieces that they use in their films and they had found it from the very beginning. The last scene is just amazing.
MomSaysItsOK 1,000 films
In April 2018, the subreddit /r/TrueFilm voted for a canon of 1000 films. Close to 300 users submitted a list…
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Tobias Andersen 5,011 films
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