This movie is really frustrating. There's a good core to the story, but the execution - especially the writing - is wildly uneven, and in some spots just embarrassing. Everything is written very broadly and exaggerated, which is fine, but when the tone abruptly shifts to sentimentality, it doesn't work. I can't feel anything for characters who have been established as cartoon archetypes. There are many characters who aren't real people - they just exist to execute specific plot points or fumble through awkward, heavy-handed dialogue. The whole thing is just sloppy. To the point where it feels like there were last minute rewrites or problems in the editing room.

I'm baffled by the critics' love for this one. McDormand is fine; she certainly commits to the intensity of the character, but the performance is a little one-note. Harrelson is on cruise control, Rockwell and Dinklage are playing paper-thin cartoon characters, and the actress who plays Harrelson's wife is notable only because of how horribly miscast she is and how little chemistry she has with Woody.

There are a few laughs in there, but it's kind of a hot mess otherwise.