Something's Going on in Fargo

Today I decided to tackle the Coen Brothers movie Fargo (1996) from our tied trio of poll winners. Puneet took a look at it yesterday, and you can find his take on it here. I haven't read his review, but I got an impression from him today that he seemed to like it. I've also heard of this film quite a bit. It seems to be the movie everyone refers back to when a new Coen Brothers movie comes out. I always forget the string of great movies they've made, but it's vast and filled with unique and fun flicks. They can also turn on a dime when going from funny to grizzly serious. I kinda had my hopes up, but at the same time I was playing it safe with my expectations. So did I love it, or did I hate it? Find out right after the jump.


The theme to the story here is all about greed. In almost every corner you'll find examples of it here. The story initially focuses on Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), who arranges for his own wife to be kidnapped by two hired goons. These thugs would be the loud and talkative Carl (Steve Buscemi) and man of few words, Gaear (Peter Stormare). Jerry wants to extort money out of his rich father-in-law, and he tells the men they'll ransom his wife for $80,000 and split it 50/50. In reality he has a scheme to get even more than that, but he's not about to tell them that. While so far Jerry seems like a mastermind, he's actually a bumbling car salesman from a small town. Not that his hired guns are much better. The one last thing they never factored into their plans though, was Margie Gunderson (Frances McDormand), super cop! OK, well, maybe she's just a regular small town cop, but she's still a good police officer and has an eye for details, and happens to also be pregnant. The pressure is on everybody in this story, right from the get go!

Carl and Gaear meeting Jerry at the local bar

Where do I start? How about with all the things I loved about this movie? Alright, that seems as good a place as any.

EVERYTHING.

I loved pretty much everything I can think of in this movie. The actors were great at bringing all their quirky characters to life. The look of this snowy, in-the-middle-of-nowhere, USA. The story and plot kept me going. The repeated theme of greed was interesting, showing up in Jerry, the crooks, and even Jerry's father-in-law. All the strange little side stories that seemed to happen for no reason other than to flesh out the world. The way everyone talked was fun and wonderful and gave the whole film such a unique energy and life. OK, so it wasn't like it was a party movie. But what I mean by "energy" is more like, this felt like a real world, with real people, and it was actually lived in. It all just felt so true.

She may look harmless, but Margie will always get her man

I could probably go on and on about the characters in this film for ages, but I'm going to try to keep it short and only talk about Margie. I like almost everything about this character. First of all, props to Frances McDormand for absolutely making Margie come completely to life! Almost every single thing about Margie, from her accent, to her politeness, to her cute little pregnant waddle, and even her name, make her seem absolutely harmless! Even so, she makes connections in the case her partner totally misses, travels huge distances on basic leads, and works this case like it's no one's business! Almost every single thing she does breaks another lead in the case! She never misses a beat. Margie Gunderson is easily my favorite character in the whole movie. In fact, you can see Margie at work in this clip from Fargo as they look at the crime scene shown on the majority of the movie posters and DVD box covers you'll see. Warning, these could be minor spoilers, it's from about 30 minutes into the movie, just an FYI. Margie is on the case!

What is in that suitcase?!

So much of this movie is classic Coen Brothers. The unusual voices and way of talking that makes it unique from every other film. The crazy characters, and of course really good themes. The other really strong part of this movie for me was the story. It just seems to keep branching off in all kinds of directions with all the characters, and I can recognize this as a staple in most Coen Brothers movies. No Country For Old Men, the remake of True Grit, The Big Lebowski, Miller's Crossing, Burn After Reading (which also had Frances McDormand). I recognize almost all of these things as being in all their other movies, and they're all so great for it. And yet, while they all share such similar traits, they're all completely unique!

So it should be pretty clear that I recommend this movie. If I could, I'd buy it on Blu-ray right this second! That's how much I liked this movie. I want to watch it again right now! And for those who can't stand the North Dakota and Minnesota accent, I'm not sure what to say. I thought it created a great contrast between the immediate impression of being relaxed or laid back, and the sometimes brutal murders and great police work you then witness. Crime doesn't happen only in the big cities! And I think it would be a crime if you never saw Fargo.

To find our reviews of other Coen Brothers movies, just click on the "Coen Brothers" tag at the end of this article!