Dead Simple

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Dead Simple ★★ Viva Las Nowhere 2001 (R)

Frank Jacobs (Stern) and his nagging wife Helen (Richardson) owe a failing motel in dusty nowhere Kansas. Frank dreams of being a C&W singer and he hooks up with lounge performer Julie (Kohl), who has an abusive manager, has-been Roy Baker (Caan). Then there's Helen's twin sister Wanda (Richardson again), barmaid Marguerite (Stringfield), and the motel's garden, which gets a lot of unexpected fertilizer. Black comedy can't sustain its edge. 98m/C VHS, DVD . Daniel Stern, James Caan, Patricia Richardson, Sherry Stringfield, Lacey Kohl, Tim Abell; D: Jason Bloom; W: Richard Uhlig, Steve Seitz; C: James Glennon; M: Andrew Gross.