Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) is an Alaskan travel agent having financial problems. His brother has been missing for some time and he attempts to cash in the life insurance policy worth $1m. Unfortunately, the insurance agent (Giovanni Ribisi) won't let him cash it in until his brother has been missing for a much longer period or until the body is found. One day whilst putting trash in a dumpster Paul finds a corpse that has been left there by two amateur criminals. He then has the idea of taking the corpse away and using it to pass off as his brother. What unfolds is a complicated plot involving the insurance claims worker desperate to prove that the corpse is not the brother, the two criminals attempt to recover the corpse by kidnapping Paul's mentally ill wife (Holly Hunter) and the return of Paul's lost brother (Woody Harrelson).
This film is hilarious and in my opinion is the funniest film of 2005. The complicated plot allows it to have plenty of comedic moments and well delivered lines by all actors especially Robin Williams.
The plot is very reminiscent to that of Fargo and A Simple Plan. All three films have a storyline involving Money, Death and Snow. Fargo and A Simple Plan have are more serious tone than this film does and allow the cold atmosphere they are set in to make the story more colder than it already is. The comedy in Fargo is much more subtle than this film and does not go as far. The problem this film has is that the quantity of comedy in this film almost squeezes the coldness out of the plot.
This film is definitely worth watching for the high comedy value it has but if you are a fan of Fargo and A Simple Plan looking for a similar dark cold thriller, prepare to be disappointed.
