1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Fargo

#944- Fargo (1996)
Starring: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
Directed by: Joel Coen


Plot Summary: Jerry Lundegaard is desperate for money, to the point where he hires two hitmen to kidnap his own wife and hold her for a ransom of $80,000 to be paid by Jerry's wealthy father-in-law, Wade Gustafson. In reality, Jerry is planning on asking Wade for more ransom money and keeping most of it for himself. The two criminals, Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud, succeed in kidnapping Jerry's wife Jean, and as they are driving away with her in the backseat, they are pulled over by a state trooper. They're pulled over for not having proper tags on their getaway car, which was supplied by Jerry. Carl tries to bribe the trooper to let them pass without giving them for a ticket, but Gaear becomes impatient and shoots the trooper in the head. When a couple passes by the crime scene, Gaear chases them down and kills both of them, eliminating all witnesses. The next morning local police Chief Marge Gunderson is called in to investigate the homicides and she begins a mission to track down the murderers without even knowing that these are the same two men that kidnapped Jean Lundegaard.


Remember what I was saying during my Raising Arizona review of how simplicity can be splendid? Well, I still believe it can be, but only for a short while. As one of their earlier projects, Raising Arizona really helped establish Joel and Ethan Coen and it was up to them as filmmakers to continue to thrive and become more ambitious as their film careers progressed. You wouldn't expect directors like Quentin Tarantino or Steven Spielberg to keep making as many movies as they do if they kept the tone and ambition they had in their earliest projects. They have to keep elevating their game and evolving in the realm of making movies. Why do I bring this up with the Coen Brothers? When it was time for me to watch Fargo, I knew going into it that it was one of their most famous and well received movies. But by the time it was over, I was wishing they had not relied on simplicity to create comedy and told something more complex to keep me interested.

The main protagonist is local police Chief Marge Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand. Of all the Coen Brothers' films, Marge is usually considered one of the most memorable and I'd be lying if I said I couldn't see why. While polite, Marge has a great, fast acting mind for criminal psychology, and gets so much work done on her own, moving way ahead of some of her lesser minded colleagues. She is a very ambitious police chief and a very strong, independent, female character which is definitely refreshing to see in the world of crime thrillers. Her interactions with her husband Norm, played by John Carroll Lynch, are very adorable and they have a great dynamic as a couple. In an interesting turn of events, Norm is more of a traditional stay at home "wife" type character, while Marge is out in the field doing police work. Not even a female event like being pregnant can slow Marge down. That's right. Marge is able to do all that she does while PREGNANT. Is there anything Marge can't do? She's like Fargo's version of a superhero.

Fargo is also full of fascinating side characters, including Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy. Jerry is the epitome of a doormat and nearly every character gets the opportunity to walk all over him. The worst part of it comes whenever he has an idea and people want to take the idea from him and make it their own (better) idea. Even if this make's Jerry's blood boil, he's too darn polite to actually make a fuss about it. William H. Macy I always think is a great character actor and he does a great deal with what he's been given with Jerry. You definitely feel sorry for the guy in most cases and wish he could grow a spine and become his own man. But if he did that, it wouldn't nearly be as funny to watch the same formula happen to him with different characters.

There are really only two characters who feel at home in this crime thriller, and that's Carl Showalter, played by Steve Buscemi, and Gaear Grimsrud, played by Peter Stormare. The two may come off at first as numbskulls, but they take their jobs very seriously and try to carry out as much professionalism as possible, while still maintaining some fun along the way. The two have another interesting dynamic because Gaear barely speaks and Carl never shuts up. Buscemi really has an opportunity to shine by playing...well, Steve Buscemi (and that's absolutely fine with me....because Steve Buscemi is awesome). While audiences are used to Buscemi's rat-type character, Gaear has an equal opportunity to make an impression because of how opposite he is. He's quiet, but not dumb. He's very cold and calculating, only speaks when he needs to and has a thirst for blood and not caring who you are. If Gaear finds you to be a threat to him completing his job, he will not hesitate to kill you and that's actually pretty terrifying. Mix that with Carl as a weasely mouthpiece, and you have a very deadly combination that leaves an indelible imprint on the film's plot.

I'm not sure if I'm a minority on this, but I found by the end of Fargo that I wasn't sure where all the appeal was. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the acting performances from the main characters, but what I don't see the appeal in is the dark comedy aspect of the film, which mainly stems within the setting of Fargo, North Dakota. I understand that much of the dark humor is within the concept that many of these characters are too polite and courteous to be your generic crime thriller characters. Here's what I got from the humor: it's cold where they're at, most of them are too polite, they speak in a "funny" accent and say repeat phrases like "Oh yeah" and "Ah jeez," and that's about it. Are people from Fargo offended by this movie or do they find it an accurate depiction? Anyone from Fargo, please let me know in the comments because that was the biggest question I had while watching this overhyped and I dare say "average" film.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Maybe I was expecting too much from Fargo due to hype as one of the Coen Brothers' bigger films, but something left me immensely underwhelmed. For me, the accent jokes and politeness can only go so far before I get bored, but there are still some good acting performances and a gritty crime thriller on display, so it's worth a watch at least once to see if the dark humor makes or breaks the film for you.

Fargo and movie images are copyrighted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer