A grim black comedy based on one of those bizarre sequences of events where petty crime leads to mass murder. Desperate for money, which he will not get from his wife's millionaire father, Jerry (William H Macy) hires two evil-tempered, short-fused gunmen (Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare) to kidnap his own wife for a million dollar ransom, leading them to believe it's only a small proportion of that sum. Just about everything goes wrong, leading the crooks to leave a swathe of bloody murders behind them. Then the millionaire (Harve Presnell) refuses to give Macy the money and insists on delivering it himself. Fortunately, the chief of police (Frances McDormand), although six months pregnant, is very much more astute than her staff, and is soon on the trail of the truth. A fascinating mixture of gore and giggles, not without its dull patches, this has an ace performance by McDormand and some very off-kilter dialogue. Staggering in with a bullet through the neck, Buscemi grimaces at his colleague. 'You should see the other guy,' he growls.

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