Here we return one of the earliest Coen brothers films, so early that the director credit is attributed to Joel Coen alone as apparently those were the rules back then. It is of course a noir which was how they established their reputation in the first place. I think it’s a little heavy-handed at times but it sure is a lot of fun to watch.

Tom Reagan is the chief lieutenant and friend of Leo O’Bannon, the mob boss who controls the city. A rival mobster Caspar comes to ask for permission to kill Bernie, a bookie who he claims has cheated him. Tom warns Leo against starting a war and advises him that Caspar has a legitimate grievance. Leo insists on protecting Bernie however as he is involved with his sister Verna. Tom knows that Verna isn’t trustworthy as she is also having an affair with him at the same time. The gang war kicks off when Leo has the police raid one of Caspar’s joint and in return Caspar sends men to try and assassinate him. When Tom tells Leo about his affair with Verna in one last attempt to de-escalate the conflict, he is beaten up and kicked out. He is promptly picked up by Caspar who wants him to change sides and just as he predicted, Leo starts losing the war as both the mayor and the police chief switch to supporting Caspar. Verna tells Tom that his confession has also caused Leo to dump her and she begs for his help to save Bernie.

Set in an unnamed American city during the Prohibition, this film is so crass in its characterizations that it feels like a pulp movie. We have Irish gangsters and Italian gangsters, the designated femme fatale, the bought police chief, the looming enforcer, the greasy grifter and so on. Jon Polito chews scenery as Caspar like nobody’s business and you can just about see the sweat glistening off his bald pate and the spittle flying from his mouth. We also have bodies jerking around while being riddled with bullets, Leo chomping on his cigar as he relishes his victory and so on. A subtle film this is not and it comes close to being too heavy-handed yet it never quite goes over the edge. It is admittedly a lot of fun to watch and it does make it easy to differentiate the many characters and keep track of all the intrigue.

The best part of the film is the intricate plotting. As a mob boss’ right hand man, Tom Reagan is average at best at fighting as he is constantly beaten up by others here. What he can do is apply his keen intelligence to gangland politics to predict everyone’s moves and preempt them. At the same time, he isn’t a perfect chessmaster and can be caught out but he is able to improvise and roll with it. Even better is the character that emerges from his actions. There’s a certain Japanese quality to him I feel, being loyal to his employer despite the employer himself being arguably in the wrong and not returning the same degree of loyalty. I especially like that he is one hero who doesn’t give in to the femme fatale. Caspar and his chief enforcer Eddie may be the overt antagonists, but I ended up feeling rather sorry for them. Caspar really is ethical going by the twisted morality of gangsters and Eddie is loyal even as Tom works to undermine Caspar’s trust in Eddie.

I feel that this film could be improved with a bit more subtlety and a little less grandstanding. Nevertheless it is a supremely enjoyable film with some very clever plotting and a decidedly non-traditional noir protagonist. Later the Coen brothers would add layers of absurdity and humor to their signature style and the absence of both elements is noticeable here but it really is very impressive for such an early work.