The owner of an old-fashioned Texas honky-tonk saloon (Dan Hedaya) hires an unsavory private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh) to murder his employee (John Getz) whose sleeping with his unsatisfied and much younger wife (Frances McDormand), a seemingly straightforward proposition that grows more and more serpentine as it coils back and back on itself with bloody repercussions for all. This Coen Brothers debut is stylish, sometimes overly so, and instantly identifiable as they own with a screenplay with many brilliant touches that probably gets a little too convoluted for its own good. The principal players are excellently cast and all fine in their respective roles.
*** 1/2 out of ****
