For those who don't know, the Blacklist is a list of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood.I saw where it had potential, although was telegraphing that it wasn't so good at the beginning. My guess is that the director, Matt Shakman (TV director, heavily with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) got in over his head or had less and less resources, as it apparently was made over two years.My first impression of the set-up was asking why the shooter didn't notice Hemmesworth and his girlfriend so close. Thus, that brought me out of the movie. It made up for it somewhat as I then guessed the whole scam when Hemmesworth was reading the very obvious and large sign in the Post Office about murdering postal employees. In a town that never has murders.But then made me think that it was engineered as stupid as most of things like that require a conviction of the perpetrator. Thus, a very forced plot device.But okay, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it had a very good cast (except for the pedestrian Hemmesworth and Teresa Palmer). But did have some poor production values. And in the end it just felt sloppy. Malcovich had somewhat amusing character traits but then the epilogue of him not escaping the town years before was vague.Maybe there was something interesting there with the psyco played by Michael Stuhlbarg, but apparently they never shot it or cut it out. I could see if he was so proficient in killing and fighting on a regular basis, but it seemed like this was new for him and he was magically very good. But Stuhlberg still made something interesting out of what he had. Thus, quite a bit was missed. Maybe there's a much better 2 hour version somewhere vs. the 1 1/2 hours I saw.In the end, it was a few dumbasses with a dumbass (badly researched) plan that got way out of hand.

Dwayne McLaren (Liam Hemsworth) is tired of small town life in Cut Bank, MT. He's filming his girlfriend Cassandra Steeley (Teresa Palmer) when he catches the murder of mailman Georgie Wits (Bruce Dern). He hopes to cash in on the $100k reward from the post office. He works for Cassandra's dad Big Stan Steeley (Billy Bob Thornton) who dislikes and distrusts him. Sheriff Vogel (John Malkovich) investigates the town's first ever murder with the arrival of postal investigator Joe Barrett (Oliver Platt). The scam starts to unravel with murderous Derby Milton (Michael Stuhlbarg) looking for his lost package.This has a nice neo-noir crime vibe. There's nothing wrong with paying homage if it's done well. The problem is that I don't think Dwayne's scheme would actually work in the real world. There are some good actors here. It is speaking the noir language but it is a bit flat. It doesn't elevate the intensity.

After reading the reviews here I was not expecting much with Cut Bank. But at the end of the movie I have to admit that I truly enjoyed this movie. I first was a little bit annoyed by the "parcel" at the end but the next day I suddenly figured it out and then I was even more satisfied with this movie. The stars in this movie are Michael Stuhlbarg, Billy Bob Thorton and John Malkovic. Liam Hemsworth was okay but he shouldn't have had the major role. The other actors were all good as well and made this movie better then the reviews want you to believe. It all starts slowly, but the more you get in the story the better it gets. I saw better movies for sure but I saw also a load of worse movies then Cut Bank. Certainly worth a watch.

"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