From the start of Maggie Moore(s), this quirky little film works as a mixture of Breaking Bad, especially because of its New Mexico setting, and a Coen brothers movie. However, in that fusion, the film somewhat takes away from both influences, ending up as something theoretically similar, but ultimately less fun and less engaging.
In its story, which is partly built on real events, the film deals with the double murder of two women named Maggie Moore, living in a small town and both having zero reasons to be killed. Smartly written, the script opens with a resolved mystery, putting the viewers in a position where they already know everything.
As the story progresses, a set of initial blunders only continues to grow around the evil-doers, while Sheriff Sanders, played by Jon Hamm, and his love interest Rita, played by Tina Fey, try to unravel the bizarre and apparently senseless murders. At the same time, their middle-age romance blossoms in its full awkward glory.
But, despite the great leading cast and a good script, the film's dark comedy angle simply never comes to full fruition. It remains stuck in a place where it is neither a thriller nor a true black comedy, leaving it looking very pale, which rarely happened to its main influences.
