Hands down, an undisputed modern-day classic about Police Chief McDormand unwittingly on the trail of kidnappers for a seemingly unrelated triple-homicide. Macy is terrific as the wannabe-mastermind behind the kidnapping (his own wife, no less, in an attempt to squeeze ransom money out of his wealthy father-in-law Presnell) but quickly becomes in over his head when the scheme gets more and more dangerous for the odd-couple kidnappers Buscemi and Stormare. Lots of great minor characters on both McDormand and Macy's sides of the story. A refreshingly unconventional crime story driven less by the plot and more by the black-comedy, making the movie as equally intense as it is funny without getting too melodramatic.

**** (out of four)