Parents' Guide to LaRoy, Texas

Writer-director Shane Atkinson's debut feature film is a wildly enjoyable crime caper featuring a likable cast of underdogs. 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. Magaro is perfectly cast as put-upon sad sack Ray, frustratingly clueless but treated with a warmth by the director that keeps him the right side of annoying. Zahn's optimistic PI, dressed unironically in a cowboy hat and bolo tie, and with a propensity for spur-of-the-moment chaos, is another oddball cut from the same Coen cloth. Baker's hitman is suitably intimidating, but offers glimpses of a more off-kilter side, not unlike the looming villain of No Country for Old Men. The atmospheric cinematography casually casts its eye over the sprawling dust landscapes and roots out fellow misfits in the bleak fluorescent-lit dive bars. The overall flavor is bittersweet, and a taste of much more to come from a promising filmmaker.