What if the Coen Brothers were Danish, and what if they made a small town, modern day neo-noir that's a little like Blood Simple but not really but retained their bleak humor, deliberate strangeness, and awfully wide mean streak? Well, it might be a bit like
Terribly Happy, which in no major or minor way does suck, but aside from the nationality of the setting, doesn't feel completely original either. That's not a bad thing by any means, and there's still much, very much to enjoy here(hell, film noir plots pretty much improve anything).
Its just that the setting is so very well realized that it becomes a tad disappointing that there isn't more attention paid to the periphery, I would have loved to have spent more time with the many oddball character populating this film, but instead I get the lions share of the attention to the new marshall in this very strange little town and his dawning understanding of what being a good citizen there means. Its one of those almost great movies, the kind you like, but you know coulda stood to have liked a whole lot more.
***
