Maggie Moore(s)
The pitch black comedy that fans of Fargo will love
“Everything about these cases is bothersome.”
Buckland County police chief Jordan Sanders (Jon Hamm) isn’t used to one murder in his New Mexico patch – let alone two in less than a fortnight.
But, put aside the fact that one of the husbands is pointing the finger at a neo-Nazi co-worker and the other has been cutting corners at his fastfood franchise (thus endangering the safety of his patrons) and it’s the rather bizarre coincidence that both of the victims have the same name – Maggie Moore – that really troubles him.
As Maggie Moore(s) – debuting on Sky TV’s Rialto Channel at 8.30pm on Saturday, March 16 – opens, Sanders and Deputy Reddy (Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed) are investigating the second crime scene, Maggie Moore #2 (Mary Holland) having either been pushed, jumped or fell from the upper-floor of a motel, but clearly finished off by a gunshot to the back of the head.
As the pair try to piece together why she has been killed and how it might relate to them finding the other Maggie Moore’s (Louisa Krause) charred skeleton in a burnt-out vehicle in the desert 10 days earlier, widower Sanders is also distracted by trying to maintain the spark between himself and casino worker, recent divorcee and potential witness Rita Grace (Tina Fey).
Drawing loosely on the real-life murders of Houston women Mary Lou Morris and Mary McGinnis Morris in October 2000 (apparently shooting just down the road from the ill-fated Alec Baldwin-headliner Rust), actor-turneddirector John Slattery’s (Mad Men, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Howard Stark) first film in a decade (the last one was the Philip Seymour Hoffman-starring God’s Pocket) is a terrific Coen-esque caper filled with colourful characters, dark humour and delightful dialogue.
Paul Bernbaum’s (Hollywoodland) script zings with one-liners, while also delivering plenty of unexpected twists and turns, despite us knowing the identity of the killer from the opening frames.
Yes, this isn’t a whodunnit, or even much of a why dunnit, but rather a willthey-get-away-with-it? And it’s one that comes with a fabulous, crowd-pleasing resolution, some terrific chemistry between both Hamm and Fey and Hamm and Mohammed – and a smattering of set-pieces that are not easily forgotten.
If you’re a fan of Fargo – the series, or the original 1996 movie – Burn After Reading or No Country For Old Men, then Maggie Moore(s) might just be your cup of pitch black comedy.