Movie: "Fargo"
Year: 1996
Rated: R
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Writing credits: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Reviewer: Protoclown
Posted: 12/16/2009

Plot: Jerry Lundegaard hatches a plot to have his wife "kidnapped" and then extort his father-in-law for the money, but unfortunately everything quickly falls to shit as the plan goes awry.

Review: What says "Happy Holidays!" like the sight of human body parts sticking out of a wood chipper? Okay, so Fargo isn't exactly a holiday film, but it has lots of snow in it, and that's close enough in my book to count for something. While not the best film by the Coen brothers, it is another solid film in a long line of damned good movies they cranked out during the 1980s and 90s.

I could watch the movie over and over again just for the silly accents alone, but for me the highlight of the movie is watching the interactions between Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare's characters, who have been hired to kidnap William H. Macy's wife so that he can totally scam some money out of his disgustingly rich father-in-law. Buscemi is the typical twitchy, bitchy, talkative, yet-somehow-so-charismatic nervous wreck he portrays in so many films, which plays perfectly off of Stormare's creepy, taciturn, dead-eyed sociopath. William H. Macy is also tremendously enjoyable as the awkward, insecure husband in trouble (his temper tantrums are awesome). And Frances McDormand is extremely convincing as a pregnant small town cop, who seems mildly surprised by everything, but lets nothing bother her.

The Coens' movies tend to fall into one of two camps: farcical comedies or serious noir crime dramas. Sometimes the line blurs between the two, and that's what you have with Fargo, where fucked up situations are made funnier than they should be because of the characters and their bizarre reactions. This is a film about some simple people getting mixed up in some not-so-simple situations, and is definitely a worthy addition to the Coen catalog.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)