Big Nothing (2006)

Big Nothing is the kind of crime comedy that starts with a petty scheme and then keeps slipping on the banana peel of fate until it’s sprinting downhill, breathless and wickedly funny. Jean-Baptiste Andrea gives the film a crisp, Coen-adjacent vibe—small-town grime, big mistakes, and punchlines that land right next to genuine tension—while keeping the pacing snappy enough that you’re always a step behind the next bad decision. David Schwimmer brings an anxious, lived-in desperation that makes the chaos feel personal, and Simon Pegg is a jittery spark plug of charm and panic, turning every twist into an opportunity for dark laughter. It’s not for viewers who want their thrillers tidy or their comedy gentle, but if you like your crime stories offbeat, sharp, and gleefully unpredictable, this one delivers far more than its title suggests.

Big Nothing is clearly aiming for a cheeky Coen-lite crime caper where small-time schemers keep making things worse, and it does have a few fun twists plus a game cast (Pegg’s energy helps). The problem is the movie can’t decide if it wants to be a dark, nasty thriller or a breezy comedy, and those tonal gear-changes are so abrupt they flatten both the tension and the jokes. The low-budget look also makes the bigger “whoa” moments feel smaller than they should, leaving the whole thing a bit disposable once the credits roll. If you enjoy scrappy, mean-spirited black comedies and don’t mind uneven execution, you might have a decent time; if you want a consistently funny, sharp, or genuinely suspenseful ride, this probably isn’t it.