Is this the best vehicle for Malcovitch and Thornton available to them? These guys have history, and together, maybe not the legends Pachino and Deniro, or even Stallone and Swartzeneger, but really? A Fargo wannabe, (the series, never to be compared with the feature film). This film especially lacks character depth, drama, and especially moments made to give you the little JOLT, which are so badly shot and poorly directed, they would not pass for home video. The story is interesting enough, but is destroyed in the telling. There are great writers out there as we have seen,many or mostly in series presentations. How do guys with the stature of major league stars play ball in a place like Cut Bank? No humor, no drama, nothing characters, empty as the plains and as tasty as a canola sandwich. Yuk.

A decent psychological/crime thriller that takes place in Cut Bank, Montana. Cut Bank is supposed to be a small town, although we don't see any of it except a post office and outlying junkyards. Montana generally has a bad rep, I suppose because of the good survivalists who have taken to the mountains to be "off the grid" and because of an outburst of anti-Semitism some twenty years ago.It's a mismanaged image. I spent some months working with Cheyenne and Blackfeet Indians in Lame Deer, Browning, and Billings and it's a civilized state once you get past the cowboy hats. Really. The anti-Semitic scrawls on the walls of Billings were followed by a sympathetic community response in which angry and dismissive letters were sent to the Rocky Mountain News and in some windows menorahs miraculously appeared. You can buy the NY Times at your whim.Thank you for your kind attention. And now, are there any other questions? An ambitious young man, Liam Hemsworth, is shooting a video of his pretty girl friend who is running in the Miss Cut Bank. That would be Teresa Palmer. I'd vote for her. In the background, by accident, he films two men on a highway some hundred yards away. One masked man shoots a mailman, piles the body into the mail truck and drives away. The two unseen witnesses are aghast.But the writers have gotten too clever and tried to trick the audience. Apparently both Hemsley and his girl friend are part of a staged murder and robbery. The general idea -- which is pretty turgid -- is that the mailman (the hulking, bony, aged, bitter Bruce Dern) and a mute Indian giant are all part of a plot to stage the crime and then sell the video to the media for a fortune.They might have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for the sluggish but decent Sheriff Vogel (Malkovitch) and an Ed-Gein-like recluse (Michael Stuhlbarg) who is determined to get the parcel he's been eagerly waiting for. He smells bad. He's rarely seen in public. He doesn't speak much and never blinks behind those eyeglasses, so thick that belong in the tower of a lighthouse.One by one he tracks down the criminals who are holding his parcel and -- well, he gets the information he wants. What does the parcel contain, you ask? A child's lunch box. That's all.The plot has scenes that lack any credibility. The filthy psychotic Stuhlbarg has confronted Dern in a remote house. He quietly demands his parcel. He's holding a crowbar. So what does Dern do? He starts insulting Stuhlbarg, ridiculing him. That's just one instance.The production owes something to the Coen brothers' "Fargo" and there are scenes that evoke memories of Jamie Gumm's basement in "The Silence of the Lambs." But "The Silence of the Lambs" made your hair stand on end and puckered your sphincters, and "Fargo" was an ironic delight. "Cut Bank" is not boring, and it's somewhat atmospheric, but it lacks poetry and the characterization is clumsy. What is Billy Bob Thornton's problem, for instance? The performances are uniformly good except for Liam Hemsley, who is tall and bulky and can't act. His girl friend can, and so can the other principals so that his flattened affect stands out prominently.

Dwayne (Liam Hemsworth) concocts a plan to video tape the murder of mailman Georgie (Bruce Dern) to get the $100,000 reward and leave Cut Bank, Montana. Georgie and Match (David Burke) the Indian who does the actual shooting are part of the plan. Georgie must stay out of site. Complications arise when Derby Milton needs the package being sent to him in the mail and he goes looking and isn't concerned about anything else. Match was supposed to burn the mail, but didn't. Oh, oh!Cut Bank is a town in Montana that boasts being the coldest place on earth. So, in a way, this could be considered a FARGO type murder story as we have a plan that doesn't go like it should have. However, the weather isn't cold yet: it's summer time. You will see Derby be a better detective than Sheriff Vogel (John Malkovich) the way he goes about locating his package but he has a one-track mind and is oblivious to anything else going on around him Sheriff Vogel slowly investigates the murder after having seen the shooting on the video. Joe (Oliver Platt) the Postal Inspector from Washington DC, just needs to see the body to be able to award the $100,000. Big Stan (Billy Bob Thornton) runs an auto repair shop and Dwayne works for him. Cassendra (Teresa Palmer) is Big Stan's daughter and Dwayne's girlfriend, who is practicing to win the Miss Cut Bank title. Now you are up to date. This is an excellent cast in this well told story. There are some chuckles to be had, but this is not a comedy per se. A comedy of errors……sort of. It's a fun movie. Yes, some people die, but Hey: it's only a movie. (waited a long time to throw that one in, eh?)There is a significant twist at the end - I didn't expect - but it worked well with all involved. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, not much though.

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 :-)