Fargo

Rating:
Summary: You Betcha!
Review: Whenever I rave about a movie I've recently seen, there's the inevitable question "What's it about?" With regard to this film, I recall responding that it's about a pregnant police chief who eventually solves a series of brutal murders somewhere in the Upper Midwest. (Brainerd, Minnesota? Fargo, North Dakota?) It is always a pleasure to observe Frances McDormand's performance in a role for which she received an Academy Award for best actress in 1996. The film was directed by Joel Coen who co-wrote the screenplay with brother Ethan. This film effectively combines some of the most dead-on (albeit affectionate) cultural satire of Scandinavian Americans in "Small Town U.S.A." with severe physical violence as when one victim is stuffed upside-down in a wood chip machine. (When I first observed "Margie" methodically gathering information, I was reminded of Colombo whose keen mind is also underestimated.) The basic story involves Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a desperate swindler. After his wealthy father-in-law Wade Gustafson (played by Harve Presnell whom I did not recognize) refuses to become involved in a real estate project, Lundegaard hires Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimstad (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrud) so that he can use most of the ransom to cover his debts and thereby conceal his crimes. Of course, his plan fails and several lose their lives as a result. As the film ends, the camera focuses on Chief Gunderson as drives her police sedan across the bleak winter landscape (think of the surface of the moon beneath three feet of snow and ice), with one of the two kidnappers in custody. She claims not to understand how anyone could behave badly in such a "beautiful" world.

Yes, this is a nasty film...at times severely violent. It also has a number of delightful comic moments, notably during Chief Gunderson's conversations with her husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch) as well as with Lundegaard. The acting by all members of the cast is consistently brilliant under Coen's crisp direction. After numerous viewings, what I still enjoy most in this film is McDormand's performance. Chief Gunderson may have a trusting heart but also a remarkably sharp mind. She wants so much to believe in goodness, to think the best of others, but she is by no means naive. As played by McDormand, she invests this film a warmth which is all the more remarkable, given the physical setting and time of the year.

Rating:
Summary: The Coen's pay tribute to Middle America
Review: Of all the Cohen Brother's tremendously entertaining movies, this is the best. This is the one that they will be remembered for. William H. Macy plays Jerry Lundegaard, a man in a spot. He's a used car salesman that has been securing loans for cars that are not really in his lot. The bank is calling in the loans, threatening legal action, and he needs money fast. He forms a plan to have his own wife kidnapped, thereby splitting the ransom money between himself and the kidnappers.

It's a terrible plan, and it quickly unravels into a bloody mess of murder and betrayal. When bodies begin to mount, a local police officer, Marge Gunderson, is called in. Frances McDormand plays Marge Gunderson, and she makes the movie magical.

McDormand won an Oscar for the role, and this is one instance when the recipient deserved the award. She plays "Margie" with a huge dose of humanity. She is a character that sneaks up on you. When she is introduced, you wonder if perhaps she is just a small town officer in way over her head. She is pregnant, speaks in small town (Minnesota) idioms, and throws up from morning sickness when investigating the first brutal murders. She seems more like a nice, Minnesotan housewife than a cop. But early you get the feeling that there is something special about her.

The killings involve a traffic cop that was killed while issuing a ticket for a missing plate. In his log book, he was written DLR. When Marge's fellow officer says that he has run a search for all tags starting with DLR, Marge says gently, "I'm not sure I agree with you 100 percent on your police work there, Irv." She explains to Irv that DLR means that it was a new car, a dealer's car. "Oooh" says Irv, staring into space. Then Marge tells Irv a joke about the guy that couldn't afford a vanity license plate, so he changed his name to FGS1135. "That's a good one," says Irv, but it is clear Marge's wit has gone over his head.

The brilliance of the scene is that Marge is never cruel or condescending to Irv, never thinks less of him, and is not making fun of him. She is simply enjoying her own intelligence, and we can see the very private sparkle in her eyes.

Marge also has a core of steel. Watch the scene where she gets information from a menacing suspect by reminding him, with almost motherly concern, about all the trouble he has been in with the law, and the fact that he is actually in violation of his parole. She cracks him like an egg without ever loosing her smile.

All actors concerned give great performances. Steve Buscemi brings his pitch-perfect snide larceny to the table, playing one of the kidnappers; and Peter Stormare (who once played Hamlet in an Igmar Bergman production) utters perhaps 15 words in a terrifying performance as the other kidnapper. And, of cource, William H. Macey couldn't have played it Better. His Jerry Lundegaard is so full of stress and fear, you can't watch him without squirming.

I have read where this film has been criticized for making fun of the people of Minnesota, poking fun at their accents and manners. This is not true. The Coen Brothers grew up in Minneapolis, and this is their homage to their own people. The folks in Minnesota may talk funny to the reviewers watching movies in New York and Los Angeles, but this film in no way makes fun of them. At the end of the day, Marge and her husband are happily going to sleep in their bed, in love with one another and content with their shared life. How many other couples portrayed in a Coen Brother's film can make this claim?

How anyone can watch Marge Gunderson in action and think the Coen's were making fun of her is beyond me. Like Marge, they are simply enjoying their own intelligence.

Rating:
Summary: why does everyone love this movie?
Review: I rented Fargo because of numerous recommendations and general curiosity. i'm still trying to wonder why... it was a terrible movie. I kept waiting for it to pick up, or make some sort of relatively intelligent statement about life, and it never happened. The only "excitement" (and trust me, thats quite a stretch) was the pointless, incessant killing. I don't have a problem with violence in movies, but in Fargo it just seemed overdone and stupid. The criminals were hardly believable, the protagonists were irritating, and the whole thing was simply a confusing, unfunny, slapdash mess.

Rating:
Summary: A great and moral film.
Review: ... In a way, "Fargo" is an expansion and refinement of the formula the Coens created in "Blood Simple," with characters so blinded by greed, lust, etc. that they fail to notice the stupidity of their own behavior. Have there ever been two more abysmal, gutter-minded screen criminals than motormouth Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and grimly silent Gaear Gunsrud (Peter Stormare)? And has there ever been a more self-centered, mealy-mouthed, spineless worm than Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy)? But the real master stroke of "Fargo" is its heroine, the pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), who combines a cop's courage and moral clarity with an earth-motherly sweetness and compassion. There has never been a more compelling confrontation on film between good and evil than Marge's confrontation with the last remaining crook. By now everybody knows about the superb performances of the ensemble cast in "Fargo" (with a richly deserved Oscar for McDormand), as well as the breathtaking winter landscapes captured by photographer Roger Deakins and the haunting, folk-tinged score of Carter Burwell. But it is the Coens' magnificent screenplay that is the engine of "Fargo," a brilliant--if profane--morality play.

Rating:
Summary: Passafist Reviews Fargo
Review: The crime in the Coen Brother's film FARGO has to have been the worst executed crime in the history of cinema. It's flawed from the very beginning. It's a good thing that the movie isn't the same way; it's possibly one of the best-executed films of the last 25 years.

I've always been a [fan] for strong character dramas. Plot is inconsequential to me for the most part. I always look at it as that added bonus if a plot really grabs me. I just realize that most stories operate on the same seven or eight premises. So it is the characters that save them. FARGO is full of great characters.

The film opens in Fargo, North Dakota, at a shady trucker bar. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macey, Panic) is there to meet Carl (Steve Buscemi, Con Air) --a low rent, funny looking crook. Carl is there with another man named Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare, The Big Lebowski), a tall, silent and scary looking crook. Jerry drops off a car and sets a crime into motion. The two crooks are to kidnap Jerry's wife (Kristen Rudrud, Pleasantville) and hold her for ransom. Jerry is trying to embezzle money from his well-to-do father in law Wade (Harve Presnell, Face/Off), who is a real [fool].

Needless to say, what should be a simple crime goes terribly wrong. When three people show up dead in a small town called Brainerd, the local sheriff, Marge Gunderson (Francis McDormand, The Man Who Wasn't There) get on the case.

What Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted here is a drama of such life and scope. It's not simply about a crime. It's about people living their lives at a moment in time. There are scenes in this film that are unnecessary to the plot that are completely necessary for these characters.

Take for instance, the intimate scene in a hotel resturant in Fargo. Marge is met by an old high school chum, named Mike Yanagita, (Steve Park, and TOYS). He invites her to the hotel to seduce her. He's so bad at it that he makes up stories to try to win her over. She's so sympathetic, to this mans needs, but also wary of his advances. Any other film, this scene would probably be cut, it sure doesn't move the story along. But it paints a clearer picture of just who Marge really is; it's vital to the evolution of her character. It's perfect.

There is another brilliant sequence near the beginning of the film where Jerry has just told Wade about a great land deal he has in the works. He's hoping Wade will give him the money. When the meeting takes a decidedly different turn there is a single shot of Jerry walking back to his car. It's so sad. It's so heartbreaking. You sympathize with and for Jerry. It's reminds me of that scene in TAXI DRIVER, where Travis hangs up the phone after being rejected by Betsey and the camera pans away to the empty hallway, very effective both times.

Francis McDormand is perfect as Marge. She embodies even the pregnant suit she wears through the entire film. I don't know why Marge has to be pregnant; the film would work without her being that way. But that again is one of those small character beats that makes FARGO a film worth watching.

Another interesting device the Coen Bros. use is a small title screen at the beginning stating that the film is in fact a true story. In all honesty it isn't. But what that allows the film to do is work in the realm of the real. Sure the film is a work of fiction, but still there is a feeling of authenticity that little title allows. Honestly the first time I saw FARGO, I thought it was a true story, and I believed it throughout the entirety of the film.

Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare make great crooks. In any bad film these two characters would be bumbling [fools]. Neither one is terribly smart, but there is certain finesse to there performances. I particularly liked the early scene where Buscemi's character Carl tries to stop talking to show Stomare's Grimsrud he can play the silent game. Of course Carl can't shut up, so he winds up talking to himself.

After reading this review your probably thinking this is a drama. But the AFI listed it as one of the 100 greatest comedies. How does that add up? Well, life is sometimes really funny; sometimes you hear a joke and you can't help laughing. FARGO is a comedy of situation. Marge for instance is a naturally funny person, so she'll tell a joke. She's sweet and good hearted and so are the people she works with. So naturally funny things will happen.

FARGO is a great movie. Well worth 95 minutes of anyone's life. It's a slice of life comedy, set against a gritty and horrible crime. It's a human character study. FARGO is one of the best movies ever made. I love FARGO. ...

Rating:
Summary: definitely goes on the top ten list of the 90's
Review: The top ten list of the 90's, by most people's standards, would include such films as Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, American Beauty and Schindlers List. I'm not most people, so I would disagree with several of those choices, but another film that needs to be on that list is the Coen Brothers'film 'Fargo'
Fargo is a gripping, twisted, chilling, dark and often hilarious film noir about a kidnapping scheme gone wrong and the detective that has to stop it. Every performance is excellent. The cinematography is incredible, you really start to feel like you're there in Minnesota. Some scenes are so outrageously violent or outrageoulsy profane (or both) that your face literally contorts as you watch and wonder wether you should laugh, cry or scream advice or insults at the characters on the screen. Basically, this is masterful filmaking, above all, a story well told. Definitely a must see for anyone interested in making films and for every film buff.

Rating:
Summary: Quirky Fargo Wins
Review: A great picture. Depicts people as characters, not as beauty queens or super stars. No dead scenes with a lot of action.

Rating:
Summary: Gangster Satire!?
Review: An interesting (and sadly true) story has been ripped apart by the screenwriters and the director. The plot is simple, predictable without any twists and turns. The people described in the movie are dumb and uninspired and actually the smartest person in the movie is the one with the least dialog. Some scenes do not make any sense and do not integrate into the storyline at all, like the police officers Asian friend or the Indian mechanic. The acting is superficial, uninsprired and predictable. The story would have a lot of potential, if the director would have been more clear about his intentions. I felt sad to read in the beginning that the plot is based upon a true story and that has been recreated as accurately as possible and expected a drama or thriller. Maybe real crime is not as exciting in real life as it it in fiction. What ever happend to the kidnapped wife? I couldn't wait to get it out of the DVD player.

Rating:
Summary: I think I like it
Review: I found Fargo subtly hilarious when I first watched it. But on the second try, it wasn't as funny. Maybe it's because I turned on the closed captioning. I think reading along made it lose some of the humor. I did appreciate the accents, because part of my ancestry is Scandinavian-American. When we were kids we used to make fun of the accents, rather than getting offended.

I enjoy reading the different viewpoints on why the movie is great or not. And I think I will continue to reflect on these different viewpoints for years to come, in order to further understand the film and defcide how much I really like it. Ya.

Rating:
Summary: Big crime in small-town America
Review: Another engaging, often hilarious film by the Coen brothers. They manage to make cold, flat Fargo, North Dakota, seem as distant and exotic as a foreign country. The flat north-of-midwest accent is comically played up in a very human and tongue-in-cheek script. William H. Macy is absolutely wonderful as the film's eye of the storm, and his character is a perfect blend of simplicity and evil. Frances McDormand does a great job with the pregnant cop role which could have easily become a clownish caricature. She finds the right blend of humour and toughness, and her performance is very warm and completely convincing. Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare make a very memorable pair of slimy cretinous criminals. My only objection is that the film is needlessly bloody, and a lot of the violence could have been implied instead of so graphically demonstratated. But this is a Coen brothers film, with a body count worthy of a Shakespeare tragedy, so perhaps my objection is a little misplaced.