The Coen brothers' early films are all variants-usually comedic-on film noir. This is the most successful of their early efforts. In some ways it is a rather blunt in how it turns the style inside out. I.e. The negative space of typical noir is made white by setting the story in Minnesota or how basically every character is dumber than a bag of rocks. The film is highly enjoyable because of this quality. And if nothing else the film is always amusing.