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Rating of
4/4
"Geez".
Matthew Brady - wrote on 04/27/2014
"Geez" Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor masks a whip-smart mind. When a pair of motorists are found slain not far from the corpse of a state trooper, Marge begins piecing together a case involving a pair of dopey would-be kidnappers, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Bergman stock player Peter Stormare). They've been hired by Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman under the thumb of his wealthy, overbearing boss and father-in-law, Wade (Harve Presnell). Jerry's raised some money illegally through a petty scam he's run on General Motors and he's about to get caught. This movie has one of the best writing in any other films, the dark comedy works in this film by the writing and the actors in the movie. the …
Rating of
4/4
Fargo...still the best
Rich - wrote on 10/09/2013
One of those movies you can watch over and over again, and can't help but make your fondness for the Coen brothers' genius grow. William H. Macy makes this movie - if there is a character more believable than this perennial, hapless failure, I would love to hear about who it is. Buscemi and Stormare's misfit chemistry is hard to top in the history of criminal conspirators. Harve Presnall, his daughter and grandson work so perfectly, you can't help but think they are more "Fargo" than actors. And Frances McDormand deserved her Oscar - a pregnant Police Trooper - I dare you to find better. In the end, it's hard to think of a movie with a more bizarre plot that is fully believable up to the now pop culture-esque "I'll throw you in a wood chipper" scene.
Rating of
4/4
A ridiculous anecdote of misdeed in the winter.
memento_mori - wrote on 07/10/2013
Fargo is a trophy of 90's Coen Bros. filmmaking. Admittedly, there are a few pointless scenes and the climax for me is a little underwhelming, but that doesn't give the film a reason to be bad, because every scene is better than the last.
It has the most unusual pair of characters, but for some reason they work well off each other, even if they don't share a scene together. A criminal duo, a terrible (TERRIBLE!) husband, pregnant police chief, where else do you see that?
Frances McDormand deserved her Oscar here, without a doubt. She is funny, she is convincing, she basically defines a woman from the north with her sing-song accent and jolly expressions. Priceless.
The music by Carter Burwell feels majestic. It's like you're being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Even the direction …
Rating of
3.5/4
Ah, hon, ya got Arby's all over me
MikeInMotion - wrote on 08/07/2012
When a movie like Fargo comes along, you almost don’t know how to react. All of the different genres, emotions and categories that you could slap on it still could not give the uninitiated a solid description of the film. The intensity is mixed with the mundane. The comedy is mixed with the tragedy. It is a lot to digest at first, but when the dust settles, the true genius of the whole product is made clear. Fargo may be a film that is challenging, but more importantly it is one that is rewarding.
The movie begins with a man named Jerry who is having financial problems and needs to come up with money quickly. A series of fortunate (or unfortunate) events leads him to be introduced to two criminals, Carl and Gaear, who are to help him come up with big money fast. The plan is for them …
Rating of
4/4
"Fargo" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/29/2012
The Coens once again revisit Film Noir, but at their most playful which is obvious from the opening screen that proclaims "THIS IS A TRUE STORY". It isn't. It deconstructs the genre, transporting it's elements from the shadowy streets of the big city to the bright white snow covered open spaces of Minnesota. The crime is investigated by Marge Gundersson, a waddling, heavily pregnant housewife whose cheery agony aunt approach to the investigation is a million miles from the hard-nosed tough guys we are used to. The crime is planned not by a criminal mastermind, but a cowardly used car salesman with ideas above his station, and perpetrated by a pair of inept and seedy small time crooks. The crime is solved not by a convoluted set of crosses and double crosses, but by a common sense …
Rating of
4/4
Fargo review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 08/22/2011
A crime dark comedy loosely based on a real incident, one of the Coen's highly re-watchable films produced. Highly entertaining than Millers Crossing or No Country for Old Men while being intelligently satisfying much like A Serious Man and The Man Who Wasn't There while injecting the humor similar to The Big Lebowski. Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) has plans of having his own wife kidnapped to gain financially from the ransom money from his father-in-law. A pair of criminals was tasked to do the job. Carl Showalter (Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Stormare were referred by an ex-convict named Shep Proudfoot (Steve Reevis). A lot of unfortunate events happen along the way when Carl and Gaer kidnap Jean (Jerry’s wife). A 7-month pregnant chirpy cop Marge Gunderson (McDormand) tries to …
Rating of
2.5/4
Fargo
Amyaronson - wrote on 07/18/2011
I finally saw Fargo! The parts that were funny were REALLY funny, mainly the moments with the hilarious Kristin Rudrüd as William H. Macy's kidnapped wife. She was actually born in Fargo, so it makes since that she had the accent and mannerisms down so perfectly, but also, just her face is hilarious. Like, the face she was born with. Like a pug. She was definitely my favorite part of the movie.
Aside from some brilliant comedic writing and amazingly funny cast, this movie was just a...Coen Brothers movie. I'm a little sick of the "small town loser gets caught up in something super scandalous and it is HILARIOUS and INTENSE" formula, but it definitely works for Fargo, making it better for me than The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading (and I don't think I can compare it to No Country …
Rating of
4/4
*Sarah* - wrote on 12/29/2008
Jerry Lundegaard is in a financial jam and, out of desperation, comes up with a plan to hire someone to kidnap his wife and demand ransom from her wealthy father, to be secretly split between Jerry and the perpetrators. Jerry, who is not the most astute of individuals, hires a couple of real losers from the frozen northern reaches of Fargo, North Dakota for the job. Then things begin to slip from bad to worse as Jerry helplessly watches on.
Oddly I'm a complete newcomer when it comes to the cinema of Joel and Ethan Cohen. This is only the third film of theirs that I've seen, the other two being Oh Brother Where Art Thou? and the brilliant No Country For Old Men, which I loved from last year. After watching this and my opinion on No Country For Old Men, I really must search for other …
Rating of
4/4
"And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day."
Arbogast1960 - wrote on 03/28/2008
Easily the Coens' best film (even better than the heralded No Country for Old Men, which I loved). Few films are able to combine wit and gravity so smoothly. McDormand is excellent as the pregnant police chief, as is Macy as the desperate man whose scheme goes awry. No one could play the volatile kidnapper like Buscemi. There's also something about the film, at least stylistically, that reminds me of Kubrick's The Shining: the lateral tracking shots with the gliding camera; the snowbound hellscape, so pristine, juxtaposed with the bloodshed; the vaguely antiseptic, almost clinical feel. Of course, this is a Coen picture, as the black, offbeat humor continuously reminds. And the ending is pitch perfect--not sappy, not corny, just somber and contemplative.
