Blood Simple (1984)

Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, M. Emmet Walsh, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams. [R]

Astonishingly assured (and accomplished) debut film from Joel and Ethan Coen is a harsh but blackly comic neo-noir composed of the standard themes of greed, lust, guilt, jealousy and murder. Sleazy bar owner Hedaya hires even sleazier private detective Walsh to follow around his cheating wife (McDormand) and catch her fooling around with his bartender (Getz); then he hires Walsh again, this time to kill the sinful lovebirds, but that’s only the tip of this biting-cold iceberg. Stylish and sinuously-paced thriller full of showy camerawork (courtesy of Barry Sonnenfeld, photographing his first fiction film) and a few gripping performances, including the inimitable Walsh, who’s probably never been better. Yet despite all the technical skill and vivid atmosphere, what really puts it over the top is the screenplay’s deceptively complex construction, crafting the rare kind of thriller where the audience always knows more than any of its individual characters, and watching them sink deeper and deeper into the proverbial swamp is akin to being manipulated by Hitchcock at the height of his powers. The climax is a knockout. That’s Holly Hunter’s voice on Williams’ answering machine.

94/100