After being cheated on by his wife, and disrespected by his brother and business partner, store owner Ray decides to kill himself. However, before he can pull the trigger, he gets mistaken for a low-rent hired killer, and decides to take on the gig.
The take
Sometimes, especially when you’ve gone without it for so long, you would do anything for a shred of respect. LaRoy, Texas depicts exactly that, with a store owner Ray being so unwilling to stand up for himself that his wife cheats on him with his brother, who steals from the family business. It's a terrible situation to be in, of course, but it's played out in a dry, comedic way, as detective-wannabe Skip pokes on the wound when trying his best to solve the case, and as each surprise reveals how terribly incompetent the small town deals with things. While it doesn't quite compare to the neo-Westerns of Coen brothers it’s inspired by, LaRoy, Texas is both fun and tragic, and a promising debut for writer-director Shane Atkinson.
What stands out
The cast! Whoever decided to pair Magano and Zahn in this is brilliant.
Comments
Add a comment
Your name
Your comment
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
More like this in
Down the Rabbit Hole (2024)
A painfully uneventful coming-of-age story about a boy and his drug-lord father
3.5
Mona Lisa (1986)
A neo-noir love story that dives deep into London’s underworld
7.7
La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
A sensual, spellbinding masterpiece depicting the creative process and its muse
8.1
The Guilty (2018)
A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.
9.0
La Chimera (2023)
A dreamy, bewitching film that ponders on ideas of lostness and longing
8.0
Forgotten Love (2023)
The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama
7.7
The Last Stop in Yuma County (2024)
A tight Western thriller that makes good use of its limited budget
7.2
Wicked Little Letters (2024)
It’s not the most original mystery out there, nor the most rousing feminist piece, but Wicked Little Letters’ robust performances make it well worth watching
7.1
John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch (2019)
John Mulaney successfully creates an offbeat children's comedy special tackling death
7.5
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending