CUT BANK (Matt Shakman). 93 minutes. Opens Friday (April 10). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NN
When two small-town lovers (Liam Hemsworth and Teresa Palmer) capture what appears to be a murder while taping a reality-show audition video, their world turns inside out – and a number of other bodies start piling up.
Long-time TV director Matt Shakman helmed two episodes of Fargo, which may explain why he wanted to push further into Coen brothers territory with this thriller about a botched fraud plot triggering an escalating series of confrontations.
Sadly, he’s just not up to the challenge. Cut Bank is ersatz in almost every way, a parade of dumb people doing foolish things while other, dumber people plod along behind them slowly putting things together.
The inexpressive Hemsworth does his best to stay one step ahead of a host of Coen-approved actors including A Serious Man’s Michael Stuhlbarg, Burn After Reading’s John Malkovich and The Man Who Wasn’t There’s Billy Bob Thornton (who brings along his Fargo TV co-star Oliver Platt) while the plot lumbers from one arch confrontation to the next.
Cinematographer Ben Richardson (Beasts Of The Southern Wild, The Fault In Our Stars) makes it all look real nice, though, and Bruce Dern has fun as a cranky postal worker who can make absolutely any situation worse simply by being present.
