J.K. Simmons stole the show-- and was hilarious.

Rating: 7/10 (12 September 2008)

There are different dimensions to a film, of course. They could be great or so-so on their own, and appreciated thusly. How they all come together, however, makes the movie a good one or not. This film has great actors, all doing a marvellous job. But the plot is so oblique that I didn't quite "enjoy" the movie, despite the great bit of dark humour toward the end.
J.K. Simmons stole the show here. George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and John Malkovitch, and the others, did a splendid job--- no complaints. But J. K. Simmons' character was the only truly funny one. The interaction with him toward the end was actually my one nice memory. Malkovitch chopping the the gym manager up with a hatchet was absurd, of course, but completely appropriate, in a weird and perverse way, and totally apt. Sounds gruesome, but it wasn't--- it was hilarious. And Simmon's matter of fact approval of that deed was priceless. The rest of the film, though, was so dark and loony, and about total losers, so it was actually more depressing than funny.
Simmons, who played so many authoritarian and "hard" characters in his career, seems to have discovered a new vein of talent, and perhaps a new career for himself. First, last year he was the grounded and loving dad in "Juno." Now, while this character was "blissfully out of it," he had a similar presence. One liked him in Juno, one likes him here for much the same reason.