Not outstanding (as a Coen brothers movie) but still worth watching.

Rating: Null/10 (1 August 1999)

To point out the less obvious, John Goodman has already played a nutcase character in other Coen Brothers movies: "Raising Arizona" (As the prison escapee) and "Barton Fink" (as the arson-murderer). In this, he plays a disgruntled Vietnam veteran. And Steve Buscemi, for the hundredth time, plays a pedophile. It's starting to look a little tacky and routine. Maybe, now that the Coens received Academy Awards for "Fargo" they should reconsider to hire other actors?
Well, I marginally recommend this film. It seemed like another version of Fargo (kidnapping, ransom) only this was stranger and Fargo was much better. There's really little to recommend about in this movie, but it was one of the better films to be released in the early '98 year. Worth seeing once.