Who Killed Maggie Moore(s)?: Noirish Whodunit Starry but Flat

By Kim Hughes

Rating: B-

There is a palpable on-screen conviviality among the players in the new film Who Killed Maggie Moore(s)?

Directed by veteran actor, the perennially patrician John Slattery — perhaps best known as Roger Sterling Jr. in the drama series Mad Men — the film stars Slattery’s Mad Men cohort Jon Hamm alongside Tiny Fey, who keeners will note briefly worked with Hamm on her comedy series, 30 Rock.

Also on board is wisecracking Briton Nick Mohammed of Ted Lasso fame, so we’re among friends here. Which is exceedingly pleasant but not necessarily what you’re looking for in a film that aspires to be a twisty, noir-ish black comedy set in a dusty, drowsy town in the American southwest where evil dwells just beneath the surface and nefarious secrets need to be closely guarded.

The film opens with harried sandwich shop franchisee Jay Moore (Micah Stock) buying expired, cut-rate meats and cheeses from a shady middleman (Derek Basco) decidedly not representing corporate head office, as per Jay’s franchise agreement.

In exchange for the cheap goods, Jay has been receiving packages at his home for his meat-supplier man, which turn out to be child porn. Jay’s wife Maggie is understandably unhappy to accidentally discover this and threatens to go to the cops.

When bargaining with Maggie fails, Jay plots to have Maggie spooked away from the cop idea, hiring a thug named Kosco (Happy Anderson, more menacing than someone named Happy should rightly be) to do the deed. Kosco goes too far, and Maggie ends up dead.

By coincidence, Jay learns through a rewards program mix-up at the local convenience store that his town hosts another Maggie Moore. Scared and desperate, Jay asks Kosco to eliminate the other Maggie Moore to throw police off the scent. Ergo, the multiple Moores of the film’s title, which is being released Stateside as, simply, Maggie Moore(s).

Enter Hamm’s police chief Jordan Sanders and sidekick Reddy (Mohammed) who begin to unravel the murders with help from Fey’s Rita, the first Moore couple’s next-door neighbour and overhearer of much vociferous arguing. The second Mrs. Moore’s husband, unsurprisingly, turns out to also possess secrets he would rather not share with the wider community.

Nestled among this escalating, town-wide intrigue is a budding love story between Hamm’s self-effacing widower Jordan and Fey’s Rita, a withdrawn divorcée with self-esteem issues. Both are playing against type; commendable buy not terribly buyable, especially since the pair display negligible sexual chemistry.

The film acknowledges as much in a scene where Jordan and Rita’s first planned lovemaking session deflates, ending with the pair stretched on top of the covers in hotel bathrobes, clutching drinks and trading theories. Sharper dialogue would’ve elevated the whole shebang.

Maggie Moore(s) sun-baked backdrop — it was shot in and around Albuquerque — imbues the crime drama with a contrarian vibe that might be called Coen-esque though with much less umph than No Country for Old Men. It’s an enjoyable watch to be sure, but not destined to be memorable.

Who Killed Maggie Moore(s)? Directed by John Slattery. Starring Jon Hamm, Nick Mohammed, and Tina Fey. Available July 4 for digital rental and purchase.