Not as self-enamored or self-amused as "Fargo"...but just as insensitive and condescending

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2009)

Unemployed welder in West Texas comes across an abandoned bloody crime scene in the desert...he also finds a satchel containing two million dollars in drug money. Hoping to keep it, and knowing others will come looking for it, he begins preparing for a showdown. Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen may be working from Cormac McCarthy's novel, but they seem equally inspired by Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" as well as by elements from their previous films (particularly "Blood Simple"). The self-reverential Coen Brothers are not as smarmy here as they were with "Fargo", and they know quite a lot about film structure, instinctively staying aware of their audience and keeping them watching intently even as they throw in loopy curveballs, lengthy conversations and perplexing jump-cuts in the editing. Unfortunately, they also operate (smugly) on one-note throughout, so that even when the movie hits its intended targets, there's no excitement, no awe in what we're seeing. The characters in the film do not matter to the Coens; the circumstances of the people in question are what count (and if they don't live very long, no problem; their histories and predicaments are then shucked off, forgotten about). The picture would be nothing more than pretentious trash were it not for some tense action scenes, flashes of fascinating detail (which don't amount to much by the end), and focused performances from the well-chosen cast. ** from ****