Great role: Frances McDormand in ''Blood Simple''

Great role: Frances McDormand in ”Blood Simple”

PREMISE In this Coen brothers film noir, adulterous wife Abby (McDormand, left, with costar John Getz) gets caught in a web of blackmail and murder that’s bloody but far from simple.

FUN FACT This was the first film for both McDormand and director Joel Coen, who fell in love during shooting and married soon after. A decade later, they both won Oscars for the similarly bloody Fargo.

WHY IT’S GREAT Full of surprises, McDormand’s resourceful, sympathetic performance put her on Hollywood’s radar as a leading lady who defied pigeonholing.