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Blood's not so simple when you're trying to clean a floor drenched with it, but that's all part of the fun in the Coen Brothers's auspicious debut. Directed by Joel, produced by Ethan, and written by both of them (their standard operating procedure), Blood Simple tells the story of a bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a private detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill his unfaithful wife (Frances McDormand) and her lover (John Getz). Not much goes according to anyone's plan here, however, and Blood Simple delights with clever plot twists and turns, which are conveyed through audacious camera moves and richly expressive black-and-white photography. There's solid acting all around, but it is Walsh who steals this show in perhaps the best role of his career: He's perfect as a slouching, overweight archetype of snide cynicism. Performances aside, the film is a celebration of style and irony and a showcase for director Joel's visual inventiveness. A seminal film in the American independent movement as well as a cult classic, Blood Simple succeeds brilliantly as film noir even as its tongue alternates from cheek-to-cheek.

All Movie Guide

In the first film of brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, M. Emmett Walsh plays Visser, an unscrupulous private eye hired by Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) to murder Marty's faithless wife Abby (Frances McDormand) and her paramour, Ray (John Getz), one of Marty's employees. But Visser is no more up-front with Marty than with anyone else; he makes some slight modifications of the original plan so that it better serves his own best interests. After a surprise double-cross and the murder of one of the important players, matters spiral out of control, and the plot gyrates through a complicated string of darkly humorous events. False assumptions, guilt, and fear all lead to a frantic attempt to conceal evidence and the heart-pounding, irony-filled denouement. Blood Simple was re-released in the summer of 2000 with a digitally-remastered soundtrack and -- at the Coens' behest -- a few minutes of dialogue trimmed. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 883904112853
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:36:00
• Sales Rank: 3,751

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Coen Brothers Gift Set

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