Fargo

Starring: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, Peter Stormare
Directed by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Crime
Box Office: $24,469,856
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A used car salesman (William H. Macy) devises a plot to have his wife kidnapped by two thugs (Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare) so he can collect ransom money from her rich father and no one gets hurt. However, when the thugs go on a killing spree prior to the kidnapping, a local cop (Frances McDormand) gets involved and may just unravel the case and bring everyone down.

Review:
Tim: Fargo was very well received by critics, winning two Academy Awards- for Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Original Screenplay. That being said, this is a pretty boring film. The one aspect of the movie that makes it enjoyable is the decent dialogue. The Coen brothers write very well and that shows up on screen. Strangely enough, even more enjoyable than the dialogue is the north-midwestern accent. The "Ya, ya" (long "a" sound) is present throughout the film. The characters' accent becomes the most important part of the movie.

The film goes along decently well, but takes a very gritty turn at the handover of the money scene between the thugs and the kidnapped wife's father. This scene marks the entrance of increased violence and graphic scenes. The spark of violence comes partially out of no where and is a little surprising. I did like how the film showed that violence breeds more violence.

Frances McDormand is by far the best part of the movie. She is very enjoyable on screen and has perfected the accent that gets so much attention. It is impressive if not a little surprising that she won the Best Actress Oscar for this role.

Steve Buscemi is excellent as always in his usual supporting role. William H. Macy is constantly good in films, but you just despise his character here and have to feel like he played it a little lazily.

Fargo is for the most part just your typical kidnapping/murder thriller. I am a little surprised that so many people speak so highly of this movie. There isn't a whole lot new or original in the film and I was bored for long periods of it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers, Raising Arizona