REVIEW — “Greedy People”

Summoning the spirit of an offbeat Coen Brothers indie, Greedy People is a well acted dark comedy thriller that explores the consequences of good people breaking bad.

Set on the small island town of Providence, South Carolina, Greedy People follows new-to-town, expecting newlyweds, the Shelleys. In a welcomed reunion of the film Yesterday, the couple are played by Himesh Patel (as transferred police officer, Will) and Lily James (as his pregnant wife, Paige).

On his first day on the job, Will is partnered up with small town cop Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a wannabe big-timer with a questionable moral compass and a dark chip on his shoulder. When Will’s response to a call results in the accidental death of a local shrimp magnate’s wife (Traci Lords) and the discovery of a million dollars in cash, Terry smells opportunity. He bundles up the cash and helps Will cover up the scene by staging it as a homicide.

As the pair of lawbreaking law enforcers work to undermine the investigation and throw their honest captain (Uzo Aduba) off their scent, they uncover a dark conspiracy that involves a swarm of shady local characters including the victim’s widowed husband Wallace Chetlo (Tim Blake Nelson), the Colombian hitman (Jose Yazpik) Chetlo intended to kill his wife, the Irishman fixer (Jim Gaffigan) Paige hires to get rid of Terry, and the victim’s dimwit masseur/boy-toy Keith (Simon Rex) who witnessed the crime. As the cast of crooked kooks intersect, the partners’ cover begins to unravel and distrust begins to grow, especially when Paige gets involved. Will the temptation of a big windfall become too much for the happy couple to resist?

Like Fargo and Blood Simple, Greedy People is a thrilling watch peppered with darkly comic and eccentric characters being consumed by their need for greed. Director Potsy Ponciroli and writer Mike Vukadinovich structure the film into vignettes that highlight each of its unsavory cast of characters. From cops and killers to husbands and wives, no one is immune from the lure of their darkest desires. Each actor in the film’s stacked cast convincingly brings to life the authentic eccentricities of their everyday small town American characters. While Coen-alum Tim Blake Nelson is in pocket as a nebbish country stooge, the entire cast’s adopted southern accents are notably impressive with honorable mentions going to Patel, Aduba, and Joey Lauren Adams as Bobette, a scorned backwoods barfly.

However, Gordon-Levitt (JGL) is the star of the show. After years of playing heroic nice guy characters, it’s refreshing to see JGL play a villainous role. His Terry is conflicted and compelling. An absolute unapologetic d-bag with a badge, Terry’s a big talking blowhard whose forced bravado masks his deep insecurities. His repressed pain and resentment from years of bullying and disrespect bubble just under the surface. JGL plays him so perfectly that you almost feel sorry for him. Hurt people hurt people, after all. However, Terry’s greed and trauma spirals him into a trigger-happy loose cannon that’s ready to pop, and such angry arrested development is a recipe for disaster.

The film’s comic small town antics get darker and darker until bodies start dropping and a tragic tone shift in the film’s final act proves that karma is real and the least greedy people will ultimately get the greatest rewards in the end. 3.5/5

Rated R with a running time of 1 hour and 53 minutes, Greedy People opens in theaters and on digital August 23, 2024.