Dir/Wri: Jeffrey Reiner | Shea Whigham, Carrie Coon, Glenn Fleshler, Max Casella | US Thriller 98′
With a gun to his head an ordinary man called Don is forced into a hitman gig in Jerry Reiner’s neat little Neo noir B-movie.
The plot is simple and well-executed from the get-go and hooks you in with its appealing central duo. Ex-con softie Don (Whigham) has done time and is now ready to collect his share of the money from L.A. gangster Armen (Glenn Fleshler). But Armen has other plans in store for Don and they involve him killing Armen’s ex Phyllis (Coon).
So Don, looking for an easy way out, agrees to kill Phyllis. But after taking her to the Adirondack foothills near Lake George there’s an unexpected twist. Unable to pull the trigger, put-upon Don combines forces with middled-aged Phyllis and the unlikely pair of grifters hatch a plan to get the money back, and more.
There’s always an audience for a decent thriller and Lake George is certainly watchable with its plausible plot, snappy dialogue and pristine production values from a veteran director and producer of TV fare such as Fargo and High Fidelity. Here he re-works a classic noir format with a feisty female and a world-weary petty criminal who just wants to retire gracefully.
A caustic dark vein of humour tempers some of the more violent episodes particularly the one where Don and Phyllis stage a robbery and find themselves witnessing a rather bizarre sex scene interrupted by a dog. The ludicrous sums involved are so minimal this only adds to the comedy as the two amusing desperados try to swing things to their advantage against the odds in some shady circumstances. @MeredithTaylor
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