There’s an utterly fascinating (and still unsolved) murder case at the centre of Maggie Moore(s), the second directorial feature from Mad Men alum John Slattery, which aims for Coen Brothers-esque comedic darkness, but unfortunately falls short of Fargo greatness.
The real case at hand was a dual assassination of sorts in 2000 Texas, where two women – both named Mary Morris – were slain within 4 days of each other. Given that it was deduced that the women fell at the hands of a hitman, theories piled up as to how and why these unrelated women were targeted. Was the first Mary not the intended target, and the second Mary was then taken out as planned all along? Or was the first Mary always on the hit list and the second was killed as merely a ruse to make this seem more intricate than it actually was?
The bumbling, bizarre nature of the story makes for prime crime caper fodder, and Slattery has given it a red-hot go with Maggie Moore(s), bringing in an immensely capable cast who are the prime reason any of what transpires on screen works; I mean, if you have Jon Hamm and Tina Fey at the wheel, there’s got to be some redeeming qualities, right?
Unsure if it wants to take such a bizarre case seriously or lean into its obvious comedic potential, Slattery’s tone in handling Maggie Moore(s) is shaky, but there’s moments where it seems to understand this balance – they’re just unfortunately too few and far between. Where it gets things right is with Hamm’s police chief, Jordan Sanders, an upstanding gentleman of sorts that perfectly caters to the actor’s inherent likeability. Some of the best moments take place between himself and Nick Mohammed‘s deputy, who can’t seem to read the room correctly when it comes to inappropriate questions or comments, and a film – or weekly series – dedicated to their easy chemistry as they solve murders is entirely what I want after witnessing them together in this.
Unsurprisingly, Hamm’s chemistry with Fey is just as strong too, but they aren’t able to capitalise on their natural rapport as much, with Fey’s Rita shoehorned too quickly into a romantic relationship with Sanders for the sake of narrative convenience. Her initial involvement in the film comes as a key witness of sorts, living next door to Jay and Maggie Moore, and the fact that she overheard an argument shortly before that particular Maggie wound up dead.
Jay (Micah Stock), truly the town idiot, has got himself caught up in a sub sandwich shop stock scam (try saying that 5 times in a row) – basically he’s ordering cheaper meat products, resulting in higher mark-ups and subsequent profit – and his wife catches wind of the big bad law breakers who he is in cahoots with, and when she threatens to destroy his scheme, Jay panics and turns to a known hitman. This hitman, an imposing brick of a human who also happens to be deaf, Kosco (Happy Anderson), takes Jay’s commands of scaring Maggie into submission a little too far – he sets her car on fire with her in it – which only throws suspicion on an already paranoid Jay. Nothing that a second devised murder plan of someone else named Maggie Moore won’t fix, right?
As mentioned, the potential is there for Maggie Moore(s) to successfully adhere to its black comedy temperament, and it certainly has the right cast of characters on hand to sell the ridiculousness without bordering on parody. And though Slattery never over-indulges with the comedic elements – if anything, he undercooks them – the nasty mindset throughout, especially regarding Kosco, means there’s a sense of discomfort when watching; especially in relation to the particularly sweet romance moments between Hamm and Fey that feel as if they belong in another movie entirely.
Unsure what it wants to be, Maggie Moore(s) threatens interest with both its black comedy murder mystery component and its more romantic relationship drama, but constantly hovers over the trigger instead of firing something of confidence. A missed opportunity.
TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Maggie Moore(s) is screening as part of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, running between June 7th – 18th, 2021. For more information head to the official Tribeca page.
