Cut Bank (2015)

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

If You are Experiencing a Severe Coen Brothers Jones or Can't Wait for the New Season of Fargo on TV, it is Possible that this may be an Enjoyable Light Snack. Hardly Fulfilling but something to Munch On.The Slight of Hand Casting of Billy Bob Thornton, John Malkovich, Oliver Platt, and Bruce Dern is a Come On that is none too sincere. Sure, all are here to Quirk Things up and They Do but Not Enough to make this Nothing more than a Recycled, Dark Humored Been There Done That.The Thing is Without Style or much Substance and it Moves from one Intentionally Offbeat Reveal to Another and it Plods Along its Unconventionality with as much Flare as a Fireman's Parade on a Summer Afternoon.Stone Face and Emotionless Liam Hemsworth is the Focal Point and He seems to Barely have a Heartbeat Relying on the Gravitas of the Stellar Character Actors Orbiting this Off Center World. Michael Stuhlbarg Stands Out as the Quirkiest of the Quirks, a Mentally Challenged Townie that Everyone Knows and Avoids at all cost for Good Reason. Now, They really Do Have a Good Reason to Stay Out of the Man's Way because He won't be Denied His Priority Mail.

With rare exceptions small towns in American cinema are between two extremes. Either they are the ideal place, a shelter against the corruption of the big city or they're these stifling places of conformity where people want to bust loose as soon as possible. In It's A Wonderful Life George Bailey finds it first one way then the other. But in Cut Bank both the title of the film and the town where all the characters live it's most definitely the latter at least that's what Liam Hemsworth finds.But he's got obligations and a girl he loves in Teresa Palmer daughter of Billy Bob Thornton the richest guy in town. Hemsworth one fine day gets lucky, as he's videoing Palmer for a local beauty pageant in a field he happens to tape David Burke a very silent and stoic Blackfoot Indian shoot mailman Bruce Dern and then take off with the mail truck.Too good to be true. Clues to solving a federal crime involving the mails is payable by Uncle Sam's post office with a six figure reward. And postal official Oliver Platt is here to pay off. But when things are too good to be true they generally are. Then some bodies start piling up and a local eccentric played by Michael Stuhlbarg starts on a hunt for a missing parcel that was supposed to be delivered in the mail by Dern. Just like Fargo, another small town setting with a crime spree that originates with a plan dreamed up by an amateur and carried out by idiots. Cut Bank, Montana is certainly not Bedford Falls. It's more like the film Fargo. In fact there's one very definite parallel, the relationship between Hemsworth and Thornton is almost a duplicate of the one that amateur master criminal William H. Macy has with his father-in-law Harve Presnell. Presnell and Thornton treat the son-in- law and prospective son-in-law like manure which is half the problem.Sheriff John Malkovich whose sleepy little Montana town has never recorded a murder is soon awash in bodies. But when the truth comes out there's a surprise ending I guarantee you won't see coming especially if you think this is a Fargo clone.The cast ensemble delivers good performances but if I had to pick one out it would be Stuhlbarg. His town eccentric hermit is underplayed and frightening at the same time, a difficult thing to pull off.Cut Bank, Montana a town with an unexpected crime wave.

"Hi! Welcome to Cut Bank, Montana, where the Rockies meet the Plains. My name's Cassandra Steeley, and I'd like to show you my town full of cheer and wonted kindness."After reading a few reviews (which I normally ostentatiously refuse to do, just to avoid influence) it seemed that "Cut Bank" is very similar to the famous movie "Fargo" made by the Coen brothers. Although I'm a huge film buff and watched quite some movies, I must admit that I've never seen this infamous film. Should I be ashamed and did I miss a milestone in the history of movies ? Probably yes. But on the other hand I could watch this odd movie unprejudiced. The fact that two leading actors starred in the television series based on the Coen's flagship, probably influenced the forming of an opinion for some. For me, as an unyielding opponent of anything that smells like a TV-series, this was again an asset. It's not a work of art with a capital A, but it has a very high entertainment value.The whole brouhaha starts when Dwayne (Liam 'The Hunger Games' Hemsworth) and his girlfriend Cassandra (Teresa Palmer) are making a type of promotional film about the town of Cut Bank, a godforsaken place where nothing really spectacular happens, and unexpectedly they witness the murder of the local postman George Wits (Bruce Dern) who makes his rounds with a vintage post car. They confront Sheriff Vogel (John Malkovich) with this murder. The first one that ever happened in Cut Bank. It turns out that there's a reward for those who can provide evidence about the murder of an official postal employee and Dwayne sees the opportunity to start a new life with his girlfriend far away from Cut Bank. However, there's an additional problem. The inspector of the postal service (Oliver Platt) must first see a corpse before he hands over the check. And then there's the strange Derby Milton (Michael Stuhlbarg) who eagerly wants his lost p-p-p-parcel.The fact that the demand for seeing a dead body causes problems, already indicates that not everything looks as it should be. And you can't tell more about this dark and cynical story without revealing too much. It certainly is all quite absurd and sometimes even humorous. If I should compare it with something, then it's "Twin Peaks" (well I realize that this makes my earlier statement about TV series totally incredible). Actually, the conditions are almost identical. A small community somewhere in no man's land where a murder has been committed. And there are also a bunch of weird residents. In "Cut Bank" you meet some unique personalities such as a sheriff who spontaneously vomits when seeing a murder or a corpse, a speechless "native" who communicates via scribbles on a notepad, a brisk old mailman who's using binoculars to peep at cheerleaders during his round and a crazy taxidermist with an old fashioned pair of glasses with glass like the bottom of a preserving jar who starts to freak out because he didn't receive his parcel. Even the lunch which Sheriff Vogel and inspector Barrett enjoying it, reminded me of Twin Peaks. Only that this wasn't about coffee and pie.The eccentric characters and the subtle used dark humor made me enjoy this movie. Unfortunately, the two main characters were not of the same caliber as the supporting actors. Hemsworth was not so determined as expected and the whole film he walked around like a sad puppy. His girlfriend Cassandra is charming and handsome, but that's about it. Fortunately there was the supporting cast with sounding names like Malkovich, Billy Bob Thornton, Dern, Stuhlbarg and Platt who already have won their spurs. They all played their colorful character with vigour, although sometimes it was really hard to understand what they were raving about when they used their local vocabulary during conversations. Malkovich stars as the desperate sheriff who, even though this is the first murder in his district, succeeds in unraveling the inextricable tangle of successive events. Dern as the elderly postman is hilarious and brings a few dialogs in such a way that it's clear that he's not suffering from dementia. But especially Stuhlbarg impresses as the slightly deranged, mentally disadvantaged and stuttering Derby Milton. Every time he appears somewhere, bewildered residents ask the same question again and again (one of the subtly placed humorous incidents)."Cut Bank" is certainly not a masterpiece in terms of originality and it's not a high flyer. There have been many movies about murder mysteries in a seemingly secluded community and "Cut Bank" also adds nothing new to this genre. I fear, however, that Robert Patino couldn't really tell which direction the story should eventually go. The end result is a humorous mystery crime that results in a violent slasher story. It's nowhere really exciting, but nevertheless it was an amusing flick.More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

I was attracted to this by cast. And what ? - Teresa Palmer looked gorgeous as usual, while Bruce Dern, John Malkovich and Billy Bob Thornton looked somehow older than they should. Was it intention of director, or they are really so old and slow now (maybe Bruce Dern is who is really old) ? I tend to blame director, who likely wanted them look exactly like that - old, slow, peripheral people. Then flow of highly improbable events started (spoilers on from now): Accidental shooting of shooting a man in field, then probably the stupidest part - showing that reward in post office - stupid because reward self, as is, and because it gave clue too early. After that, lame and unlikely events went throughout the end. I really don't want to go in every stupid detail, will just point on Derby Milton: how could that old, stupid and especially very slow retard overcome easily much younger people ? This is another big direction flaw in my opinion. And direction was overall just mediocre in best case. The story ? As said, highly unlikely, and far from anything original. We seen all it done much better. Finally, the message and final scene: really stupid message - leaving small provincial town is best what young people can do in their life ? Because such town is some kind of prison. Prison in heads, as was with kids on bicycles at final scene. People leaving big towns could say some words about .. Or I'm just too stupid to understand American Dream :-)