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Movies / Upcoming / Blood Simple
Blood Simple

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Blood Simple (1984)

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Reviews Counted:60

Fresh:59

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.3/10

Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: When a bar owner discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife, a complex web of deceit and double crosses ensues in a small Texas town. The Coen brothers' first picture is... When a bar owner discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife, a complex web of deceit and double crosses ensues in a small Texas town. The Coen brothers' first picture is an intricately plotted film noir filled with surprises at each turn. The cast, largely unkown at the time, includes Dan Hedaya as the cuckolded bar owner, Frances McDormand as the cheating wife, John Getz as the adultering bartender, and the fabulously creepy M. Emmett Walsh as the slimy, sweaty private detective who should not be trusted. The film is a marvel to experience; director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld has created stunning compositions filled with open spaces, and the sound--from the slightest footsteps or dripping water to a sudden shotgun blast--reverberates ominously, as if it is a character unto itself. Directed by Joel Coen and cowritten by Joel and his brother Ethan, BLOOD SIMPLE is an eerie testament to the limitless possibilities of low-budget filmmaking. [More]

Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh

Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh, Samm-Art Williams

Director: Joel Coen

Director: Joel Coen
Screenwriter: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
Composer: Carter Burwell

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Blood Simple

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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Watch this film, and these film makers, closely. Neither will disappoint.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
10/13/09
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/24/08
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An inordinately good low-budget film noir thriller.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/05/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A deadpan gothic thriller best described as the steamy, hardboiled fiction of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain filtered through two film-school brats.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

As black, sinful and nasty as a weekful of Hitchcocks, this is as fresh and intoxicating now as it was back then. In a word: deadly.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/06/07
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie remains mired in a smart-alecky film-school sensibility.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 4 Comments
11/06/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Blood Simple isn't bad, just self-consciously poky and austere -- a James M. Cain homage, rural-art-film division.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

A remarkably assured debut for Coen.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Tom Milne
Tom Milne
Time Out

A stunning debut, and arguably one of the Coens' two best features, this Gothic noir introduced the wry, sardonic, and playful approach that would shape their future work, and launched the screen career of the brilliant Frances McDormand.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
04/15/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The script is so tight you can feel it screwing into the back of your neck.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/07/06
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

The movie is as dark, ironic and fatalistically comic as modern film noir comes.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Louis B. Parks
Louis B. Parks
Houston Chronicle

Com um estilo marcante já no filme de estréia, os irmãos Coen criam uma obra noir tensa, envolvente e que faz do absurdo uma de suas principais armas.

comment Comment
05/28/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

A good filmmaker can make grim material watchable, but it takes a great one (or two) to make it fun.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
03/05/05
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Black humor, abundant originality and a brilliant visual style make Joel Coen's Blood Simple, a directorial debut of extraordinary promise.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/17/04
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...for all its delirious impudence and film school showiness, it's so clearly a movie made by guys crazy about moviemaking.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
02/21/04
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Stylish shoestring noir, and an admirable filmmaking debut for the brothers Coen.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Coens' complicated sense of the surreal is consistently entertaining, down to the fleeting, oddball cameos and distinctly weird scripting.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
04/08/03
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This first Blood is worth a second look (or, of course, a first viewing) by fans who like their plot simple, bloody and completely engaging.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
04/08/03
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Joel Coen and his co-screenwriting brother Ethan rarely miss a beat with their smart film noir dialogue and perfect little details...

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
04/08/03
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for Blood Simple

July 29, 2009: Zhang Yimou Remakes Blood Simple Opens in new window
Sony Pictures Classics has announced plans to distribute the latest film from director Zhang Yimou -- a remake of the Coen brothers' 1984 "Blood Simple." More...

June 26, 2009: Weekly Ketchup: Adam Sandler joins The Zookeeper, David Fincher joins Facebook
Most of the entertainment media's attention is focused on the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, but there were still interesting film development news this week,... More...

November 07, 2007: Total Recall: Welcome to Coen Brothers Country
Before expanding wide on November 21, No Country for Old Men (90 percent) will play in select cities this Friday riding a wave of huge expectations. The Cormac McCarthy-based... More...

February 02, 2006: Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee... More...

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