LaRoy, Texas

“LaRoy, Texas” remains as unpredictable as an overly agitated Texas rattlesnake and has just about as much bite to it.

Atkinson’s hilarious feature debut is a barn burner of a western-thriller whose Coen Brothers-inspired nods give life to its meek protagonist.

If Atkinson isn’t quite the Coen inheritor he aspires to be, this hectic flurry of schemers, snatchers and low-lifes puts him three-quarters of the way to inventing a new genre: Texan noir farce.

While it never quite reaches the hilarious heights or existential depths of the Coens’ finest work, it does offer similarly enjoyable mixture of the macabre and the absurd.

Watching “LaRoy” is a lot like the seedy motel affairs that all of its characters seem to be having — two hours of fun, followed by a tragic feeling of emptiness and a desire for a shower.

LaRoy, Texas is full of Coen brothers-style charm, with its dark humor, absurd interludes, and existential middle-of-nowhere location combined with a solid level of bloody violence and characters you can't help but root for.

A uniformly excellent cast keeps the pace going, right to the inevitably bloody climax.

Zany Coen brothers-like comedy thriller.

With Larroy, Texas, Atkinson proves himself a confident filmmaker and screenwriter with an ear for dialogue and skill in designing intriguing characters and situations.

LaRoy offers its own share of intrigue in no country for men—or for that matter, people in general--who want to move forward in life.