Thriller? Hardly. Overrated? Certainly

Rating: 2/10 (20 February 2006)

The DVD box and the IMDb refer to this movie as a thriller. During the meeting with Macy's character and the two thugs, it was apparent that all three characters were so sleazy and dumb that the plot was bound to fail. Watching it unfold was not exactly a riveting experience.
I also heard this often referred to as a comedy. Well, some of the characters had those funny Swedish-derived Minnesota accents. Nothing in the writing, however, provided for genuine laughs (at least not to me). Compare this to other black comedies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoos's Nest or Dr. Strangelove, in which there are many funny lines and episodes amid the backdrop of dire and/or disturbing circumstances. This movie will not stand the test of time as those have. For that matter, it won't even stand up favorably compared to other (far superior) Coen Brothers efforts.