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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Crime > Murder > Mystery > Cut Bank (2014/Lionsgate DVD)

Cut Bank (2014/Lionsgate DVD)



Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: B Film: C



Cut Bank is an interesting thriller in the vein of a Coen Brothers film (Blood Simple meets Fargo), though doesn't quite reach those heights. Featuring an all star cast including Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Oliver Platt, Bruce Dern, and Billy Bob Thorton, the performances are obviously pretty strong. So how did this film end up so under the radar?

Dwayne McLaren (Liam Hemsworth) dreams about escaping small town life in Cut Bank, Montana, billed as 'the coldest spot in the nation', with his vivacious girlfriend Cassandra (Teresa Palmer). When Dwayne witnesses an awful crime, he tries to leverage a bad situation into a scheme to get rich quickly but he finds that fate and an unruly accomplice are working against him. Thrust into the middle of a police investigation spearheaded by the local sheriff (John Malkovich), everything goes from bad to worse in this all-American thriller.

From the Director of a few episodes of the Fargo TV series, Matt Shakman, the parallels to the Coen Brothers becomes more and more evident as the film progresses. Many critics slammed the film for being too derivative and at times predictable, which it is. Still, the veteran actors take hold and bring us performances that make some of the lesser developed plot points of the film excusable.

Presented in standard definition with an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track, the film looks fine on DVD but will definitely be a more enjoyable experience on Blu-ray (which is available from Lionsgate). Extras include a Making Of, Deleted Scenes and a commentary.

All in all if you are a Coen Brothers fan or are looking for a good crime caper, you can do worse than Cut Bank. The solid cast is definitely worth watching, even if some parts feel a bit predictable.



- James Harland Lockhart V

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