This early Coen Brothers film is filled with double double crosses. Gabriel Byrne, in one of the leads, makes his character strangely attractive. The ratio of people hit to shots fired is probably pretty close to the truth. A tiny anachronism is the presence of dial telephones in an American city before 1925 ( either that or some other problem with whatever it is that places the plot that early). Another tiny plot hole is that if the outsider's bets on the fixed fight keep the fixer from profiting, the outsiders fail to profit too.
The ethical gangster is pretty funny - heavier handed humor than later Coen, though. I wish we had a rating of 7.5 - I put the film better than 7, but it hasn't enough emotional impact on me for 8.
The ethical gangster is pretty funny - heavier handed humor than later Coen, though. I wish we had a rating of 7.5 - I put the film better than 7, but it hasn't enough emotional impact on me for 8.