Cheap Fargo (DVD) (Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi) (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen) Price

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Customer Reviews of Fargo

Ten. Ten stars. Oh. My. God.
The Coen brothers rock. Frances McDormand rocks, like big time. Here we are in Fargo, North Dakota where winter means Winter, and a doofus car salesman's scheme to get money by kidnapping his own wife goes wildly and horribly off the mark, resulting in one, two, three...four? Five? I forget. LOTS of murders in a comedy of errors that are based on a true story. How can this much bloodshed be drop dead (ahem) funny? Easy. Give the story to Joel and Ethan and turn them loose. It's classic Keystone Kop stuff raised to cinema art.
And McDormand. Omigod. Talk about deserving the Oscar she got for the role! After this movie, viewers will forever think of her as Marge, the pregnant small-town sheriff who is suddenly but oh, so laconically, finds herself faced not only with morning sickness, indigestion, and a brainless deputy, but also with a case of multiple murders. She is appropriately deadpan with a Midwestern accent, an offbeat view of life - and will always be remembered for the scene in which she points to the badge on her hat to announce her official title, since the guy she's come to arrest can't hear her above the roar of the now-iconic wood chipper.
See. This. Movie.
Now.

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"Mr. Lundergaard, you're a bald-faced liar!"
Desperate times call for desperate action, and that is precisely what motivates Jerry Lundergaard in this true story as told by the American masters, the Coens.

Struggling car salesman, Jerry (William H. Macy in an Oscar nominated performance), concocts a plan to get money which involves scamming loans from GMAC, scamming a loan from his father-in-law and business partner, and organizing the kidnapping of his own wife. Of course, when things get that complicated in trying to achieve just one thing, things go wrong, and very quickly! The body count reaches six by the film's end, and police chief of Brainerd, Frances McDormand (Oscar winner for this role under the direction of her husband, Coen brother Joel) uncovers it all by driving around in her Prowler and constantly eating to feed her very pregnant state.

The film itself is very short--less than 100 minutes--for something so plot-driven and complex, yet its efficiency makes it move so well. Even so, there is still time to enjoy the many marvelous shots provided by cinematographer Roger Deakins (oscar nommed for this film) which border on trompe l'oeil at times.

If I had to say something questionable about this work, it would be listing Frances as the "lead" actress, as she doesn't come into the story until thiry minutes into the film. Even so, she makes the most of her screentime, and brings together this piece of noir/comedy/satire/morality play.

Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare are Coen film regulars, and are never given enough credit for their work in this film. As the bad guys, they are brilliant! Coen regular Harve Presnell also is great as the father-in-law who holds deserved disdain for his son-in-law, Jerry, and the hypnotic score by the Coens' composer, Carter Burwell, will stay with you long afterwards. A fine assemblage of people came together to make this odd story great; Fargo was a contender for picture of the year in 1996, and you'll instantly see why upon the very first viewing.

Many kudos to Joel and Ethan Coen for their winning screenplay based on the story told to them by their grandmother. A lot CAN happen in the middle of nowhere, and Fargo is indeed worthy of being on AFI's top 100 list.

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"..that was your accomplice there in the woodchipper."
Fargo fits into a tiny crack between popcorn flick and truly interesting, and not just because it's based on a true story. It feels the right amount of homely and immersing to be just another irrelevent kidnapping "drama", all the while keeping its simplistic "movie feel".

The story is told from mutliple perspectives of the main characters. A less-than-successful car salesman Jerry Lundegaard [Macy] agrees to pay two crooks, Carl Showalter [Buscemi] and Gaear Grimsrud [Stormare] to kidnap his wife Jean [Rudrüd]. But along the way, complications happen and the body count rises as Lundegaard and his two hired crooks try, unsuccesfully, to follow through on their plan. Through this, we meet the primary character, or the one whose perspective we look through most--Marge Gunderson [MacDormand], a 7-months-pregnant police officer who takes it upon herself to figure out the situation.

Fargo has more of a small town murder investigation plot than a dramatic something-isn't-quite-right kidnapping focus, which does nothing to worsen the quality of the overall storyline and how it plays out, but there are points where you can spot editing errors and total blandness, but the movie itself is shorter than you would expect and manages to work in such an innovative take on the genre to the frame. The acting is done well and is completely convincing, and the good direction goes hand-in-hand with it. As mentioned, there are spots were the script could be better done, but so much whereas it takes away from the feel of the movie.