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Review

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The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

Blood Simple (1984) is a neo-noir crime thriller that marks the directorial debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, who also wrote and produced the film. The film stars John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, and M. Emmet Walsh in a twisted tale of betrayal, murder, and deception. The plot revolves around a Texas bar owner, Marty (Hedaya), who hires a shady private detective, Visser (Walsh), to spy on his wife, Abby (McDormand), and her lover, Ray (Getz), who works as a bartender for Marty. Marty then offers Visser $10,000 to kill the adulterous couple, but Visser has his own agenda and double-crosses Marty. A series of misunderstandings, lies, and mistakes ensues, leading to a bloody and unpredictable outcome.

The film is praised for its tight and clever script, its dark humor, its stylish cinematography by Barry Sonnenfeld, and its atmospheric music by Carter Burwell. The film also launched the careers of the Coen brothers and McDormand, who later married Joel Coen. The film’s title comes from a term used by Dashiell Hammett in his novel Red Harvest, which refers to the confused and fearful state of mind of people involved in violent situations. The film is considered a cult classic and one of the best examples of the neo-noir genre. In 2001, the Coen brothers released a director’s cut of the film, which is three minutes shorter than the original version.