MOVIE INFO:
Broke and depressed, Ray (John Magaro) is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip (Steve Zahn), he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
REVIEW:
With a crime comedy set in a small Texas town, where everybody is guilty of one crime or another, there needs to be a great supporting cast. In LaRoy Texas, everyone gets and can execute the gags.
Basically, LaRoy Texas follows the mischief that occurs when the wrong person murders the right culprit. Ray Jepsen (John Magaro) was suppose to kill only himself, but comic fate had other plans. Now, the cheaters have to rearrange their liasions, rejigger their alibis. And in a butterfly effect, bad money must be moved to good places, detectives must be red herringed from the scent trail, sad sacks must screw things up with their new found justifieds, and everything must be executed with the precision timing of a farce.
Shane Atkinson, who essentially hasn’t done anything with his life other than a few short films and the screenplay for the Diane Keaton misfire Poms, directs as if this where his last great chance. And, miraculously, he doesn’t fuck it up. He just concentrates on the noir basics: failed beauty queens, extramarital affairs, and blackmail. This is probably an autobiography of all his screw ups. Or his mama has money and connections, a loving heart for his mis-talented little boy, and fists and a tongue of powerful persuasion. But then, he just probably read the wiki entry for the famous kiwi scammer, the other, more famous Shane Atkinson. Who knows where inspiration may come from?
In LaRoy when the folks can’t follow their treasured past times, they just murder the obstacle. And have another affair and do some more blackmailing. Ray the only decent townfolk, who co-runs the local hardware store with his embezzling older brother- Junior (Matthew Del Negro), is just becoming aware of this vicious loop the town is in. Junior is having an affair with Ray’s former beauty queen wife- Stacy Lynn (Megan Stevenson), who married Ray in a fit of existential boredom, an affair that Ray is informed in on thanks to Junior’s former buddy and now faux private detective and wannnbe Ray’s best pal- Skip (Steve Zahn, giving the films’s best performance). The two are both LaRoy laughing stocks and its last innocents. They will eventually get their respect, after foiling a hired killer (Dylan Baker), albeit with heaping helpings of disrespect amidst the town’s trinity of sacrilegious past times.
LaRoy Texas is pure Coen Brothers inspired. Atkinson can’t be depended on to solely create everything by himself, you know. Some of it is there to impress mama, and the other, to justify his expensive film school education. The effective cast, looks like their having the time of their lives. They keeps everything moving and entertaining. There’s no time to notice the derivativenes, the ridiculous turns that require suspension of disbelief, or watching two smarter than they look imbeciles hunting down cunt crazy, money grubbing idiots. Like every Coen comedy toeing in crime, it balances zaniness and hopelessness, the need to watch and wade in the sludge and fun, yet shower it off afterwards.
LaRoy Texas gets a 3.5/5 or a B+. It’s streaming on c pay per view.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Shane Atkinson
Written by
Shane Atkinson
Produced by
- John Magaro
- Caddy Vanasirikul
- Sébastien Aubert
- Jeremie Guiraud
Starring
- John Magaro
- Steve Zahn
- Megan Stevenson
- Matthew Del Negro
- Dylan Baker
Cinematography
Mingjue Hu
Edited by
Sebastian Mialik
Music by
- Delphine Malaussena
- Rim Laurens
- Clément Peiffer
Production
companies
- Orogen Entertainment
- The Exchange
- Needle’s Eye Productions
- Ellly Films
- NEXT Productions
- FLOTE Entertainment
- Adastra Films
Distributed by
Release dates
- June 8, 2023(Tribeca)
- April 12, 2024(United States)
Running time
112 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
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