Greedy People review – blood and chaos overlay bizarrely Coenesque crime caper

This under-par comedy noir from screenwriter Mike Vukadinovich and director Potsy Ponciroli feels like a script that the Coen brothers might have taken on while in one of their slack periods – and not just because Coen regular Tim Blake Nelson is in it.

Himesh Patel plays Will, a nervous rookie cop with a pregnant wife, Paige (Lily James); he has a new job in a sleepy, sweet little town; his cop partner is to be hardbitten cynic Terry, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with whom he has a “training day” relationship on their first day out on patrol. Terry shows him the ropes, and says how easy it all is in this no-crime backwater. But while Terry is one day busy having illicit sex (while supposedly on duty) with his married girlfriend, partner Will has to go, on his own, and with his weapon drawn, to someone’s home where he misguidedly believes a robbery is in progress.

A bizarre encounter between jumpy Will and the lady of the house (Traci Lords) ends in bloody chaos, and Terry agrees to help cover up the disaster and make it look as if a murderous intruder really had been there – and while smashing the place up around the corpse, as an intruder would, they find a big bag containing $1m in cash. If they themselves take this money, they figure, it will lend credence to their “intruder” story and they can split the money later when the fuss dies down. The owner of the house is local seafood entrepreneur Wallace (Blake Nelson) who has secrets of his own. His wife enjoyed the daily attentions of a masseur, Keith (Simon Rex, from Sean Baker’s Red Rocket), and police chief Murphy (Uzo Aduba) senses something isn’t right about the whole thing.

It’s not a bad premise by any means, but a noir romp, however bizarre and farcical, surely has to take place in a recognisably real world where there are plausibly real constraints on people’s behaviour. Having a hitman advertise his services in a local paint store is silly and unreal without being especially funny. Some good moments and a great cast, but this doesn’t come together.

• Greedy People is on digital platforms from 23 September, and in Australian cinemas from 10 October.