An ex-con is arm-twisted into solving “a little problem that needs to go away” — a mobster’s ex-girlfriend — in “Lake George,” a dark, dry and funny “hit-man” thriller where the “hit-man” keeps insisting “I don’t do that kind of thing.”

As it stars two alumni of TV’s “Fargo,” terrific character players Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon, let’s call it sort of a “Fargo Lite” hired killer thriller. It’s very well-acted, but not terribly surprising. And it’s a little glib about matters of murder(s) and body disposal.

Whigham is Don, fresh out of prison with no options other than trying to collect money from Armen (Glen Fleshler of “Joker” and TV’s “Barry”), money Armen isn’t interesting in paying. Something about how Don “f—-d up” the job and wound up in prison for ten years left Armen an unsatisfied customer.

But as his ex, Phyllis (Coon), knows entirely too much about his operation, she’s got to go. Armen’s lieutenant and majordomo Harout (Max Casella) will set Don up for success.

Harout sees his “guy” (Joey Oglesby) who can turn over an ancient ’83 Mercedes “diesel” wagon (“Don’t worry about smoke. It go away.”) and a :45, both “perfect for job.”

A couple of manly Middle Eastern kisses-on-the-cheek later and Don is on his way to do this thing he doesn’t do because “I really don’t have any choice.”

But meeting the Porsche-driving denim-jumpsuited mark leads to tears, pleas about an elderly “mother I take care of” and the like. And when the shot isn’t fired forthwith, we know how this is going to go.

Phyllis is going to chatter away, twist-tied to the a grab handle in the Merc, “connecting” with her kidnapper/killer on the drive to the desert. She’s going to dig for something in his personality that gives her wriggle room. She’s going to talk him out of it and make a better offer.

That’ll involve not killing her and hitting Armen’s “stash houses,” which she knows all about, the big reason Armen wants her out of the picture.

All Don wants to do is make it to this cabin he’s rented in Lake George where he can sort things out and figure out what to do with the rest of his life.

Coon has what can be described as “The Aubrey Plaza role” here, pretty enough to make Don listen without really using sex as a weapon or negotiating tool. It’s a canny turn, as the moment Phyllis talks him out of summary execution, she’s running the show.

Anybody gets hurt? Killed? That’s on her. That fingerprint they need to open this safe? She’s looking for garden shears to procure it. Coon (“Gone Girl,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”) plays Phyllis as self-absorbed, chatty, pitiless and always looking for an angle.

“If we’re gonna go down, let’s go down BIG!”

“Boardwalk Empire,” “Perry Mason” and “Mission: Impossible” alumnus Whigham has his best leading man role since the terrific “Wristcutters: A Love Story” in veteran TV producer/director (“Electric Dreams,” “The Affair” and yes “Fargo”) Jeffrey Reiner’s slow-burn dark comedy.

He’s the reactor and underreactor here, trying to hold his own in this “arrangement” that almost feels like a “relationship,” one where she is in charge.

“Are you trying to talk me into killing you?”

Fleshler has the hulking presence to be intimidating without much effort, so he underplays Armen’s menace and lets a little vulnerability sneak in.

Casella, a former child actor who’s aged into a surprisingly effective heavy (TV’s “Tulsa King”) is colorful, “professional” and pretty much flawless in a part he turns into instantly-credible.

The “glib” part of “Lake George” emerges in the sudden moments of not-wholly-unexpected violence, the trauma-free killings and body abuse (lopping off fingers) and disposal. It’s not much of a hindrance to enjoying the film, but it does call attention to the rigid, reductive formula the plot is following and the scenic but much-used SoCal locations despite the players’ best efforts to disguise all of that.

Still, if you’re looking for a clinic on how you don’t need a whole season of “Fargo” or “True Detective” to immerse you in a criminal milieu and the sorts of fixes folks living and working there get themselves into, you could do a lot worse than planning a trip to “Lake George.”

Rating: unrated, graphic violence

Cast: Shea Whigham, Carrie Coon, Max Casella, Ashley Fink and Glen Fleshler

Credits: Scripted and directed by Jeffrey Reiner. A Magnet release.

Running time: 1:48