“Don’t kill anyone unless it is absolutely necessary,” a young police officer is told on his first day of work in Greedy people. Not long after, he accidentally does just that, setting off a spiral of deadly events that give the dark comedy thriller an impressive body count. Unfortunately, the proceedings become increasingly tedious as more characters die, making the film feel like a Coen brothers rip-off despite an impressive cast.

Set in a small island town and not in the snowy Midwest, this Fargo-style story features a wide range of characters, almost all of whom prove to be either gleefully immoral or just plain stupid. The convoluted plot is set in motion when the aforementioned cop Will (Himesh Patel) responds to a 911 call and nearly shoots a woman (Traci Lords, giving you an idea of ​​the film’s irreverence) who is simply going about her business in her kitchen. She becomes hysterical and attacks him, and in the ensuing scuffle, she is found dead.

Will’s partner Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who revels in the sleaziness of his character) convinces him to cover his tracks and frame the murder on a burglar – especially after they discover a million dollars in cash in the house, which they want to keep. Then it turns out that the woman’s husband, a wealthy shrimp dealer (Tim Blake Nelson), had already hired a hitman to murder his wife so he could marry his mistress (Nina Arianda). Of course, he suspects he’s been set up.

Eventually, everyone on the island seems to be involved in the conspiracy, including a sleazy masseur (Simon Rex, Red Rocket), whose services are also of a sexual nature; Will’s heavily pregnant wife (Lily Collins, who is Yesterday co-star Patel), who becomes deeply suspicious of Terry after he “accidentally” runs over her beloved dog; another the hitman “The Irishman” (Jim Gaffigan, trying unsuccessfully to appear menacing), who advertises his services on flyers and promises: “The last handyman you’ll ever need”; and the no-nonsense police chief (Uzo Aduba), who is basically this film’s version of Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson.

Screenwriter Mike Vukadinovich (the Jim Carrey Showtime series Jokingly, Memory) tries hard to create the atmosphere of a black comedian, and sometimes succeeds in doing so, as when The Irishman says of his profession: “Even the most unpleasant work can be done ethically.” Most of the time, however, the effort is felt when the film clumsily tries to combine graphically brutal violence with dry humor – one example of this is the fact that the title does not appear on the screen until more than 20 minutes in.

Director Potsy Ponciroli showed true talent with his critically acclaimed Western Old Heinrichbut it doesn’t quite succeed. The film lacks the outrageous stylization needed to account for the escalating absurdities (by the end of the story there are few survivors left, which would be a real turn-off given the island’s tourism) and the abundance of unnecessary subplots.

Despite the efforts of his impressive cast, Greedy people fails to live up to its considerable ambitions. It lives up to its title by greedily attempting to combine the comedic pie with the violence.