Blood Simple Blu-ray
Frances McDormand, John Getz, Dan Hedaya
Written and directed by The Coen Brothers
Originally released 1984
MGM Home Entertainment 2011 96 minutes
Blood Simple fans will be happy to learn it is finally available on Blu-ray. This is not quite the original version. Then again, nobody agrees on what the original theatrical version featured. The Coen Brothers made changes for what turns out to be a director’s cut version. This is sort of explained in the added and fake intro. Special features are a commentary track written by the Coen Brothers for “Kenneth Loring” and a trailer
Blood Simple is the first and least quirky Coen Brothers movie. This is a film noir with style, great acting, solid writing, and quite a few twists and turns. It starts out simple enough but ends up pretty bloody.
Blood Simple opens with a couple in a car. She is running away from her husband, he is a friend who offered to drive her. They stop at a motel, become lovers, and end up not leaving town. Her husband hires a detective (M. Emmet Walsh in a great performance) to follow them and later to kill them.
Then, it gets weird. Saying anything more than that spoils the fun.
You would be hard pressed to find a modern film noir that measures up to Blood Simple.
Changes from what some consider the original version include some short scenes missing, such as the exchange between Meurice and the guy at the jukebox or the comment Visser makes about Marty when he gets the contract. The music has also been changed so I’m A Believer no longer plays in one of the scenes and is replaced by “It’s the Same Old Song” which also closes the movie