Thin material padded out with over-familiar Coen gimmicks

Rating: 6/10 (31 January 2008)

We've seen all this before and didn't really need to see it again. The ingredients in terms of the characters are very similar to Fargo - 1. Ruthless psychopathic killer(s), 2. Ordinary guy with bad motives getting into something over his head, 3. A good-hearted cop, outwardly unimpressive and seemingly impotent in the face of the evil thuggery let loose in the neighbourhood but clever and wise, trying to piece together what's going on and prevent tragedy. The story this time around however is thin and over-familiar - an obsessive vengeful quest, a duel between hunter and hunted that occupies most of the film. The characters too are dull in comparison to their Fargo counterparts. Despite the trademark style and quirky flourishes this is by and large a plodding, predictable exercise in ritualistic machismo. I didn't really care who got killed and when. It is not a masterpiece or even a return to form. The best moment was early on when the old almost retired sheriff and his young sidekick survey the bloody aftermath of a criminal deal gone wrong and exchange banter in theorising about what happened. Instead of developing the younger cop's part the scriptwriter casts it aside half-way through and with it goes much of the interest in the older cop too. The trail of violence runs its course and some empty banalities uttered by the world-weary lawman that pass for significant wisdom bring the proceedings to a close.