Fargo

[baumer]

Discuss

[baumer]

Can't believe no one has reviewed this:Even though it's serious, it's just so darn funny!, 26 June 2000This is a strange film. Most of the time, when it comes to films that are reality based, I get tired of them real fast. Take a film like Affliction. That film was about an alcoholic father and the abuse of his sons. It got real old real fast because there was just too much reality in there. And it didn't manage to mesh the reality with even a modicum of entertainment. Fargo is different. This is a very serious film with a whole slew of funny moments. I don't think I have laughed this hard in a film when people weren't doing anything particularly funny. But when a guy with a shovel in his hand tells you than there are clouds coming in over the horizon, and you find that gut-splittingly funny, then you are in for a special film. Fargo is that film.But besides the hilarity, what makes this film work is the breakthrough performance of William H. Macy. Macy plays Jerry Lundergard the only way he should be played. Lundergard is a troubled man. He is in some financial difficulty and he has rich relatives that wouldn't give him any money for any reason. They don't particularly like him. Lundergard is a normal man. He comes from a small town and he ends up hatching a big scheme to get the money. He will have his wife kidnapped and then set up a ransom for her that will go to him. His wife won't be harmed and then he can pay off his financial debt. So he hires a couple of idiots, violent idiots, but idiots nonetheless. Of course this being a crime movie, and a Coen crime movie at that, everything is going to go wrong. And it does.Macy captures the true feel of what it would be like to be in Lundergard's position. He is nervous. He is nervous because he is so inept at crime that he hasn't even bothered to get the kidnappers phone numbers and he tried to supply them with a car by smudging some numbers when sending in a fax to GM. In one of the best scenes in the film, what starts out as a friendly meeting between Marge, the police detective, and Jerry turns into disaster for Jerry. He can't even lie well enough to a police officer who really isn't questioning him about the crime, just the possibility that the crooks stole a car from his lot. Now I'm no expert in kidnapping, but wouldn't it have been better for him to just say that he had a car stolen from the lot? But he can't even figure that out properly.Marge is played by Academy Award winner Frances McDormand. She is from the small town of Fargo, she is pregnant and she has trouble starting her car in the morning. But she is also a gifted police officer. Upon investigating the scene of the first crime, she figures it out with common sense and logic. " I don't think I agree with some of your police work there..." she tells the other officer that seems to have it all backwards. When she gets to the big city, the first thing she does is look for a buffet, then she goes onto trying to solve a crime. She still has her priorities straight.The two kidnappers are played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. Buscemi is Showalter and Stormare is Grimsrud and they couldn't be more opposite. Buscemi is "funny looking" and a nervous, talkative fellow while Stormare is a quiet, almost dumb looking dork. But they are ruthlessly violent and quick to pull the trigger. Buscemi provides the film with some of the bigger laughs as his character is always described as being funny looking by the locals.The Coens have made some movies that were considered good, although not my taste ( Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink ) but Fargo is a step above most other films. It is smarter than any film should be and it is honest and deceptively funny. If something is supposed to go wrong then it does. In most films, when a crime is committed, the only reason it is solved and the good guys win is because that is the way scripts are written. The good guys have to win because that is the formula for a film. But in Fargo, everything that happens does so because there are reasons for it and reasons given for it. If Marge is going to figure out the crime, she does so because she has done her homework and found out where the bad guys are. The script doesn't let her down.Fargo was one of the best films to come out of 1996 and it sure as hell was much better than English Patient. I don't think we are meant to figure out the academy though. One year it gives out best picture to a worthy film like Titanic and overlooks unworthy opponents like L.A. Confidential and then other years it gives best picture to crap like Shakespeare In Love and English Patient overlooking films like Saving Private Ryan and Fargo. Fargo is one of the most original films ever made and it is a perfect one to watch when you are tired of the formula that Hollywood releases time and time again.10 out of 10

[acsc1312]

Probably my favorite Coen Bros movie (though NCFOM has surprisingly grown stronger after multiple viewings). This is just so awesome and off the wall that you have to love it. I can't wait to see it for a second time. It's been about 2 years since I've seen it.A

[IndustriousAngel]

Frances McDormand is what makes "Fargo" breathe. It's such a relaxed performance ...Other than that, while completely over-the-top in some instances, Fargo is I think very realistic in its depiction of criminals. In many crime films those guys are smart, calculating, solid, dangerous ... real villains which would give us quite some trouble if unchained in our world. Luckily, those are rare and most real-life bad guys are more like the Fargo villains: lazy, unstable, stupid, impulsive and in trouble as soon as they try to start their little brains.

[ThatMovieGuy]

Good Review Baumer! I Loved the performances in this film also. William H Macey, nervousness captured a very realistic personality, Frances McDormand was fantastic to watch like she always is, the story is nice just like you said it's different and I think that's what makes this film so special, it's not your average hollywood predictable film it's really something differnt completly. anyways since baumer said it best Im not gonna say nay more, OH! and Buscemi was excellent as well.

[luna]

undoubtedly a coen masterpiece.

 

A

[baumer]

undoubtedly a coen masterpiece.

 

A

 

Shocked.  You liked a movie.  

[The Stingray]

The best Coen movie. No Country is a close second.

[Fanboy]

This a super film. Oh yah. 

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

I thought the storyline was really good. And I found it humorous how they focused on people's day to day lives while also this entire murder mystery unfolded. My only issue with it was I couldn't really care for the characters. That's not always a bad thing, but I felt like it hindered my ability to fully love the movie. Still, a really good movie.

[Lazer]

Frances McDormand is what makes "Fargo" breathe. It's such a relaxed performance ...Other than that, while completely over-the-top in some instances, Fargo is I think very realistic in its depiction of criminals. In many crime films those guys are smart, calculating, solid, dangerous ... real villains which would give us quite some trouble if unchained in our world. Luckily, those are rare and most real-life bad guys are more like the Fargo villains: lazy, unstable, stupid, impulsive and in trouble as soon as they try to start their little brains.

I was going to say that when reading Baumer good review. Frances McDormand makes the movie, with Macy being a good second, among lots of great co-stars. Edited May 27, 2014 by Lazer Deadshot

[Jake Gittes]

So much brilliance packed into just 95 minutes. Not my favorite Coen film (that would be A Serious Man), but a very, very close second.

[darkelf]

Ya, great movie.

 

9/10

 

Jeez, now I can't get this accent out of my head

[Blankments]

I'm a big fan of the second season of the show, so I decided to finally check out Fargo, one of the Coen Brothers most famous films. It was definitely worth seeing. It's underwhelming at points, until you realize just what you saw happen in a mere hour and a half. It's packed with plot, humor, and perfect performances. McDormand, Buscemi, Stormare, and Macy - all incredible. I need to see more Coen Brothers films, but in this, the direction is pitch perfect and the script is fun with a lot of great moments. Roger Deakins always delivers a beautiful film, although this is pretty unassuming with the exception of a few establishing shots, but it works. Carter Burwel's score is also pretty lovely, quiet at appropriate moments. Fargo is a very pleasant film that's hard to put into one genre, which is always a surefire way to make it memorable. Really enjoyable. A

[vc2002]

One of my fav of all time. In some way it's bascially a perfect epitome of any Coen Bro movies: Life is an unpredictable bitch.