It’s definitely not the easiest title to write or even say, but it’s fitting of this wonky genre cocktail from director (yes, director) John Slattery. “Maggie Moore(s)” sees Slattery reteaming with his old “Mad Men” foil Jon Hamm for a film that is certain to throw some viewers for a loop. In relatively small portions it manages to be a dark comedy, a murder mystery, a police procedural, a true crime thriller, and a sweet adult romance all in one.

There’s a fun throwback quality to “Maggie Moore(s)” and it’s hard to miss the Coen brothers inspiration. Yet the movie stands on its own thanks to its snappy dialogue penned by Paul Bernbaum and a crackling cast led by the always reliable Hamm, the infinitely likable Tina Fey, and the film’s scene-stealing MVP Nick Mohammed. It’s uneven in places and perhaps not as suspenseful as it could have been. But Slattery knows how to hold his audience’s attention and he shows good instincts in keeping things moving forward.

Borrowing ever so slightly from a true account (the movie actually opens with the tag “Some of this actually happened”), the story sets us down in rural New Mexico. There we meet Police Chief Jordan Sanders (Hamm), a recent widower who’s having a tough time getting back into the swing of things. His small town is rocked when not one, but two women named Maggie Moore are brutally murdered. He and his often inappropriate yet fervently loyal deputy (Mohammed) immediately get on the case.

The movie doesn’t really hide its culprits. The only real mystery is in how things are going to play out. Bernbaum introduces us to a slew of slightly offbeat characters to tell his story. There’s Jay Moore (Micah Stock), an obnoxious cash-strapped schlub whose illegal dealings with a local miscreant named Tommy T (Derek Basco) gets him in hot water with his wife, Maggie #1 (Louisa Krause). She’s ready to turn him in to the cops and he’s desperate to make sure she doesn’t. Of course she ends up dead.

Fey plays their observant and recently divorced neighbor named Rita who overhears an argument between the couple that leads to Jay being thrown out of the house. She shares what she saw to Chief Sanders and the two hit it off. The light yet charming romance that follows isn’t all that fleshed out. But there’s a genuine sweetness to their relationship and Hamm and Fey have such a good rapport and it’s hard not to fall in with them.

And then there’s the other Maggie Moore (Mary Holland), a successful suburban businesswoman who’s married to a slimeball named Andy (Christopher Denham). She too ends up dead which adds an entirely new layer to Sanders’ investigation. Corporate fraud, child pornography, a cold-blooded hitman – they all find their way into this twisted and quirky neo-noir tale.

The movie ends with a violent blood-splattered finish and then tops it with a genuinely heartwarming final scene that really serves the movie well. It’s a final 15 minutes that could have easily clashed. But Slattery brings it all together and makes it gel, leaning on his terrific batch of characters who truly are the film’s biggest strength. They have so much individual personality and together make the movie’s more obvious issues feel like little more than nitpicks. “Maggie Moore(s)” is now showing in select theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS