I thought this reminded me a bit of Fargo but my more observant companion correctly and more accurately though it was a bit of a tribute to Blood Simple. If the movie had a weakness it was that Liam Hemsworth seemed a bit flat or lost compared to the others. The story was good, few puzzles still remain unexplained regarding the background of Derby Milton, the character whose singular unravels the plans of the main character and unleashes chaos. The women all play peripheral roles and more or less stand around and look worried.

The story felt fresh and although there was a resolution of sorts it was not too cliché.

"Cut Bank" is a moody noir mystery/thriller that deserves much better reviews than the middling critiques it has received. It is evocative of Coen brothers films like "Fargo," "Blood Simple" and "The Ladykillers," but manages to be original and unpredictable. Performances by the top-notch cast are low-key, but credible. The atmosphere is suitably dreary, desolate and depressing. Technical aspects are adequate, if not inspired.

The denouement is emotionally satisfying if one puts ones brain on hold and ignores everything one knows about forensic science. The film offers a flimsy rationale based on the small town setting, but it still tests the limits of the audience's willful suspension of disbelief. However, other events are well-grounded. The motives and capabilities of the villain are a bit over the top, but not so much as to distract.

Overall it is an engaging and original noir film with excellent performances by a talented cast.

For those who don't know, the Blacklist is a list of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood.

I saw where it had potential, although was telegraphing that it wasn't so good at the beginning. My guess is that the director, Matt Shakman (TV director, heavily with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) got in over his head or had less and less resources, as it apparently was made over two years.

My first impression of the set-up was asking why the shooter didn't notice Hemmesworth and his girlfriend so close. Thus, that brought me out of the movie. It made up for it somewhat as I then guessed the whole scam when Hemmesworth was reading the very obvious and large sign in the Post Office about murdering postal employees. In a town that never has murders.

But then made me think that it was engineered as stupid as most of things like that require a conviction of the perpetrator. Thus, a very forced plot device.

But okay, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it had a very good cast (except for the pedestrian Hemmesworth and Teresa Palmer). But did have some poor production values.

And in the end it just felt sloppy.

Malcovich had somewhat amusing character traits but then the epilogue of him not escaping the town years before was vague.

Maybe there was something interesting there with the psyco played by Michael Stuhlbarg, but apparently they never shot it or cut it out. I could see if he was so proficient in killing and fighting on a regular basis, but it seemed like this was new for him and he was magically very good. But Stuhlberg still made something interesting out of what he had.

Thus, quite a bit was missed. Maybe there's a much better 2 hour version somewhere vs. the 1 1/2 hours I saw.

In the end, it was a few dumbasses with a dumbass (badly researched) plan that got way out of hand.