A Small Fortune (2021) Review
A Small Fortune (2021) Review
When a desperate man finds a bag of lost money off the shores of Prince Edward Island, his decision to keep it from authorities is complicated after a mysterious body washes ashore.
When I was contacted about reviewing A SMALL FORTUNE I was put off by the Coen Brothers comparison in the associated marketing blurb. Why put off? Aside from BLOOD SIMPLE, RAISING ARIZONA and FARGO I have found their other, often acclaimed, offerings a bit of a chore to sit through. Yes, their films are always well-written and acted but I also find them to be too dry and emotionally detached which doesn’t bode well for someone who likes to feel engaged in what it is that they are watching.
Fortunately, writer/director Adam Perry’s feature debut, shot and set on Prince Edwards Island in Canada, has more in common with director Sam Raimi’s film adaptation of A SIMPLE PLAN (1998) than perhaps the Coen Brothers although there are some similarities to their Oscar-winning FARGO are there in the mix. Not everything with Perry’s flick hits the right note – there’s a couple of performances that I felt to be under-baked – but overall, it hits more targets than it misses and makes for a surprising and competent thriller with at least one ‘shock’ that I didn’t see coming.
WATCH THE TRAILER
