Jerry Lundergaard is a car salesman who is grossly in debt. But he has a plan: hire a couple of thugs to kidnap his wife so that he can receive a hefty ransom from his rich and bullying father-in-law. Nothing could possibly go wrong, but then all goes deadly awry when the two thugs begin killing people. Enter Police Chief Marge, heavily pregnant and glowing, to investigate the triple homicide caused by the thugs, and her small-town investigative skills soon give the crooks a run for their ransom.
WHAT A GREAT FILM! The Coen Brothers are extremely clever filmmakers and Fargo has to be one of their finest works. It’s dark, macabre, dramatic, and at the same time, devilishly funny. Earning its place in The Book, this movie is brilliant, just BRILLIANT!
Jerry Lundergaard is a car salesman who is grossly in debt. But he has a plan: hire a couple of thugs to kidnap his wife so that he can receive a hefty ransom from his rich and bullying father-in-law. Nothing could possibly go wrong, but then everything goes deadly awry when the silent pancake-loving psycho of the two thugs begins killing people. Enter Police Chief Marge, heavily pregnant and glowing, to investigate the triple homicide caused by the thugs and her small-town investigative skills soon give the crooks a run for their ransom.
Like The Big Lebowski or Burn After Reading, this film is classic Coen comedy as it shows all these terrible and macabre things happening, all because of a simple misunderstanding or failure to do something. It’s devilishly clever as it causes the audience to gasp, cringe, and laugh. The first cause for a giggle is the authentic accent and dialect that the small-town folk use in Minnesota, a relic of the region’s Scandinavian immigrant pioneers. You cannot help but be captivated by the sounds that come out of the characters’ mouths.
The second devilish treat in this film in its opening:
THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.
This entire statement is covered in shades of grey because, although the film is completely fictional, the Coens do claim that many of the events actually did take place and made up other cases and stories, all of which have been thrown together to make one story. Joel Coen, director, noted:
“We weren’t interested in that kind of fidelity. The basic events are the same as the real case, but the characterizations are fully imagined… If an audience believes that something’s based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept”
Cheeky, but very clever and used to make a great film.
The final and possibly most notable breath of fresh air in this film was the basic character of Police Chief Marge and the performance so beautifully given by Frances McDormand. Her character scales the lofty heights of The Dude in The Big Lebowski. It was just so funny to see this happy, glowing, and heavily pregnant woman investigating triple homicide without batting an eyelid. I mean the entire thing was just such a weird and wonderful way to play against the grim and dark happenings of the film and brought a bit of light-hearted and even warm comedy to play against the dark and the macabre. Frances was brilliant; funny, charming, and she had a real glow about her. I loved her.
Winner of two Academy Awards including Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Frances, and filled with murder, deceit, blunders, misunderstandings, debt, kidnapping, and comedy, Fargo is a brilliant film that is easily one that I would come back to and watch again. I absolutely LOVED IT!
And I guess that was accomplice in the wood chipper?
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