“Blood Simple,” the Coen brothers’ first film, introduces their talents to the world in morbid fashion, and it says much about their prowess that this near-masterpiece couldn’t foreshadow just how much great cinema they would generate over the next 23 years. Characteristically bleak but lacking much of the humor that would mark their later efforts, this neo-noir is essentially a four person murder show concerning a loathsome PI (M. Emmet Walsh), a jilted husband (Dan Hedaya), his cheatin’ wife (Frances McDormand), and her paramour (John Getz). Barry Sonnenfeld’s brilliant cinematography shrouds the picture in a sparse, moody darkness, while the Coen’s script deftly welds the fates of its four guilty characters together, none of them ever understanding the full picture, even after the last body has dropped. Frightening Hitchcock-esque suspense, particularly a corpse disposal gone horribly wrong, demonstrates their ability to crib from the masters without ripping them off or feeling derivative, while the crime theme sets the stage for what becomes a motif through their later work.
4.5 out of 5
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