After moving to Providence with his pregnant wife, Will (Hamish Patel) is starting his first day on the job as part of the local police force. But when Will accidentally kills a woman in her home, his less than ethical partner Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) convinces him to stage it as a robbery homicide, while the two of them split the significant amount of cash they found. This sets in motion a series of mix ups and screwups amongst the town residents as everyone gets a little greedy.
Greedy People is a dark comedy very much in the vein of the Coen brother’s films. It never reaches the heights of the best Coen brothers movies, but neither is this a bad movie. It’s entertaining and engaging with a plot that has enough twists in it to keep you guessing where it is headed next.
The movie has an impressive cast, but many of the actor do not get much screen time. They’re all very good in their roles, and I wish there was a chance to see more of some of them. But it is the relationship between the two leads that drives the story, and the focus remains on them for the most part. Fortunately, they have excellent chemistry and are the best part of the movie. Gordon-Levitt is the true standout. His portrayal of Terry as an over-confident, yet less than intelligent cop provides the most laughs.
While the cast is good, there is a distinct lack of character development though. Other than the police chief (played by Uzo Aduba), supporting characters are just caricatures and are there to serve as one more person to complicate an already messy situation by drawing the wrong conclusion and making another bad decision. It all adds to the plot, but they’re all disposable characters. Even the main characters lack depth. You never truly care about any of them (except the dog).
While it does have many good laughs, Greedy People is more amusing than funny. The dialogue is sharp, and the story engaging, but the broader, more ridiculous moments never land as hard as they should. I laughed at loud a few times, but it was mostly silent chuckling throughout. The movie, while entertaining, never quite hits a rhythm as far the comedy goes.
The main issue with Greedy People is that it feels like it is trying to emulate the Coen brothers rather than standing as a work of its own. Fargo was the movie that kept jumping into my head as the most obvious comparison. But Greedy People is a long way from being as good as Fargo. It has an interesting enough plot to stand on its own, but reminding me so much of a better movie only works to its detriment. Anything the movie could have done to separate itself from other works would have been the wiser move. Emulating the Coen brothers is not necessarily a bad idea. But it needs to better than this to do so.
Greedy People is enjoyable enough but is never great. It never quite becomes the movie it sets out to be. It does have a lot going for it though. An engaging plot, with some witty dialogue delivered by a talented cast does go a long way. It has some good moments, but never quite gels. This isn’t a must-see movie by any stretch, but it does provide enough humour to serve as a fun distraction when lacking other things to watch.
Have you seen Greedy People? Are you planning to? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.