H.I. McDunnough is a smalltime criminal who is never more than a few months from coming out of jail or a few months away from going back to jail. After each arrest though, he gets to meet the beautiful police officer Edwina and, after many meetings, Hi decides to go straight and get married to Ed. Immediately their love blossoms and they decide to share their love by having a kid. Sadly, Ed learns she is barren, sending them into a downward spiral of depression. Whenever they learn of a rich family having quintettes, they see their due and decide to take one of the babies for themselves. This is the first step onto the slippery slope for Hi, who quickly finds himself back in a life of crime, but this doesn't compare to the problems that could face him if the bounty hunter employed by the baby's real father should ever catch them up.
Having watched a few recent Coen Brother films where they do seem to be very aware of what is commercially acceptable it is nice to come to a film that is good fun but also seems to be off the wall in the way that the Coens can easily be. The plot is silly but it works mainly because it has a great deal of raucous energy to it that just keeps so much unusual stuff coming that it is hard not to get drawn into it. It isn't hilariously funny and it won't have you roaring with laughter very often but it does have a strange sense of its own reality that is consistently amusing and surprising. It will not be to everyone's tastes but the collection of strange and exaggerated characters at least keep it interesting and amusing. The Coens touch on obvious scenes at times (the long scream, the cute baby shots etc) but generally the film is very clearly theirs, with plenty of their unique touches and humour.
The cast also reveals it to be a Coen film and generally they all fit into this world pretty well, delivering performances that are exaggerated enough to be 'funny' silly and not 'stupid' silly. Cage is a likable loser, while Hunter plays it straight trashy but it is the exaggerated support characters that steal the show and keep it all moving. Goodman and Forsythe are good fun in simple roles but Wilson, McDormand, McMurray and the great Tex Cobb (as well as a few others) that all had me amused and interested.
Overall this is not a perfect film and people coming looking for a straight comedy will likely not be won over by a film that relies more on exaggeration that actual jokes but it is still quite good fun. As a Coen brothers film it is pretty accessible mixing their humour with the other touches that make them them (although this is by no means one of their best films). Fun stuff if you are in the Coen brothers world but it is not a hilarious comedy more a quirky and silly one.
Having watched a few recent Coen Brother films where they do seem to be very aware of what is commercially acceptable it is nice to come to a film that is good fun but also seems to be off the wall in the way that the Coens can easily be. The plot is silly but it works mainly because it has a great deal of raucous energy to it that just keeps so much unusual stuff coming that it is hard not to get drawn into it. It isn't hilariously funny and it won't have you roaring with laughter very often but it does have a strange sense of its own reality that is consistently amusing and surprising. It will not be to everyone's tastes but the collection of strange and exaggerated characters at least keep it interesting and amusing. The Coens touch on obvious scenes at times (the long scream, the cute baby shots etc) but generally the film is very clearly theirs, with plenty of their unique touches and humour.
The cast also reveals it to be a Coen film and generally they all fit into this world pretty well, delivering performances that are exaggerated enough to be 'funny' silly and not 'stupid' silly. Cage is a likable loser, while Hunter plays it straight trashy but it is the exaggerated support characters that steal the show and keep it all moving. Goodman and Forsythe are good fun in simple roles but Wilson, McDormand, McMurray and the great Tex Cobb (as well as a few others) that all had me amused and interested.
Overall this is not a perfect film and people coming looking for a straight comedy will likely not be won over by a film that relies more on exaggeration that actual jokes but it is still quite good fun. As a Coen brothers film it is pretty accessible mixing their humour with the other touches that make them them (although this is by no means one of their best films). Fun stuff if you are in the Coen brothers world but it is not a hilarious comedy more a quirky and silly one.