Movie Review: Blood Simple (1984)

“Blood Simple,” the first movie directed by the Coen brothers, is a neo-noir work of art. While it has many of the facets of a noir film such as an illicit affair, a vengeful spouse, a private eye, and violent crime, the plot incorporates a series of unpredictable, chilling twists, and its characters do not play by the typical script that one has come to expect in such movies.

In fact, all of them are in for an unexpected deadly surprise, thrown in by the twisting narrative, at some point. The title of the movie, “Blood Simple,” is pulled out of Raymond Chandler’s pulp fiction detective novel, “Red Harvest,” and refers to persons who have experienced life-threatening situations.

Ambivalent sounds and a Ramayana Monkey Chant are part of the background score, each thrown in at just the right time to set the tone for the taut thriller. It incorporates a number of nocturnal scenes that include many classic noir lighting techniques. The narrative packs crisp dialogs and dark humor. In my opinion, “Blood Simple” also features one of the most memorable villains ever seen, perhaps in the history of cinema.

Set in a small town, the plot opens in typical film noir fashion. The plot opens with a man driving a woman on a dark stormy night. The woman, Abby (Frances McDormand), is the wife of a bar owner, Julian, in the town, and the man, Ray (John Getz), is a bartender at the same bar. The two seem to have an attraction for one another.

As they stop to take a break from the ride, another car parks right behind them and suddenly leaves. Neither the man nor the woman recognize the car. The couple spends the night at a motel. An anonymous call reveals that someone knows that the two of them are sharing a room at the motel.

The driver of the car is revealed to be Lorren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh), an aging private detective hired by Julian to find evidence of Abby’s adultery. Having succeeded in the endeavor, Lorren meets Julian and hands him photos he captured of Abby and Ray. As Julian grows more and more enraged, Lorren adds fuel to the fire by making wisecracks and laughing in his face. In disgust, Julian throws a wad of cash at Lorren and tells the latter that he never wants to see him again.

Following this, Abby leaves Julian and moves in with Ray. That evening when Ray resigns from his job and demands back pay, Julian refuses to pay him. He also warns Ray that Abby will one day betray Ray as well and say that she has not done anything ‘funny’.

Julian’s words have an impact on Ray who is first cautious when Abby approaches him, but the couple soon reconcile. The following day, Julian tries to enter Ray’s house and violently take Abby away, but Abby holds her own. After suffering a humiliating beating from Abby, Julian meets Lorren once again.

For a sum of $10,000, Julian asks Lorren to murder his wife and lover. Lorren accepts and tells Julian to go to another place and stay there for a while, ensuring that his presence is noticed, thereby providing him, Julian, an alibi. In the meantime, according to Lorren, he will take care of the lovers.

As planned, after Julian leaves town, Lorren enters Ray’s apartment, gets photos of the couple in bed and leaves, stealing Abby’s revolver. Lorren then calls Julian and lets him know that he has completed the assignment.

Upon Julian’s return, he meets Lorren at the bar. Julian is about to hand him the money for the hits when in an unexpected twist, Lorren shoots Julian with Abby’s gun, leaves it at the crime scene, and then leaves, taking with him all the photos of Ray and Abby he had given Julian earlier. However, he has not noticed that Julian has taken one of the photos and locked it in his safe. Lorren has also accidentally left his lighter at the crime scene.

In an attempt to collect the wages he is due, Ray later returns to the bar. He finds Julian’s lifeless body on a chair and Abby’s gun on the floor of Julian’s office. Surmising that it was Abby who killed Julian, Ray cleans up the room to protect her and takes Julian’s body to a desolate spot. Here he digs a shallow grave and buries Julian in it.

He returns to his home, and his conversation with Abby is one of the memorable scenes of the movie. While Ray tells Abby that he has “cleaned it up”, Abby, who has no idea what he is referring to, responds, “I have not done anything funny.” These are the very words from Abby that Julian warned Ray about in an earlier scene.

A call from Lorren interrupts the conversation, and a clueless Abby tells Ray that it was Julian on the other line.

The exchange creates more confusion, and more pandemonium ensues, and Abby suspects that Ray has killed Julian.

Ray returns yet again to the bar and finds the photo that Julian had hidden in the safe and suspects that he is being followed. Later, Lorren goes to the bar to retrieve the photo from the safe and his lighter. As he tries to break open the safe, he is interrupted by Abby. The rest of the plot unfolds like a ‘dark comedy of errors, with Abby suspecting that Ray wants to kill her, Ray realizing that someone is after himself and Abby, and with Lorren now targeting Abby and Ray. The plot ends with more chilling twists and a violent, riveting end.

“Blood Simple” is a neo-noir masterpiece with excellent cinematography, brilliantly written dialogs, and a stellar cast, despite being created on a modest budget. The movie loudly announces the entry of the Coen Brothers into filmmaking and stands out as an excellent crime thriller. Each of the five main characters puts in excellent performances.

Frances McDormand in the role of Abby establishes herself as an actor. Abby is ‘not-quite’ a femme fatale as she is trying to get away from an abusive husband and has genuine feelings for Ray.

John Getz plays Ray, who is more or less the morally conflicted hero of noir. He, like Frances, but does not fully trust her. He tries his best to protect her from harm.

Dan Hedaya makes an excellent, jealous husband, Julian, who is seething in anger and humiliation after his unfaithful wife leaves him. He is bitter and wants his proverbial ‘pound of flesh’. Samm-Art Williams does his part, playing Meurice, another bartender at Julian’s establishment.

The tour-de-force performance in the film comes from M. Emmet Walsh, who plays the psychotic, homicidal private investigator, Lorren. Outwardly Lorren seems like someone’s happy bright-natured and quick-to-laugh grandpa. However, deep inside, Lorren is a ruthless shrewd killer, with no semblance of empathy or integrity. This is one of the most unique characters in cinema, who can seem both friendly and fearsome at the same time. In my opinion, M. Emmet Walsh’s performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination.

“Blood Simple” is one of the greatest neo-noir movies ever made.