Fargo (My Favorite Movies)

The Coen brothers are masters of making movies that are about nothing and everything at the same time. Everything they are is epitomized in Fargo, a masterpiece of a film that is so well done that you forget it’s kind of pointless, but the world of movies would not be complete without it. The dialogue is perfect, the cast is perfect, the cinematography is perfect, everything here is perfect. It stands as not only what is perhaps their best film, but one of the defining films of the 1990’s.

The film follows Jerry Lundegaard, a man who is so desperate for money that he hires two men to kidnap his wife and demand ransom. Jerry expects his wife’s father to pay the ransom (he’s real well off, you see) and once paid he would get a cut of the dough. Needless to say, it doesn’t go quite so smoothly. If it did, there’d be no movie.

I shouldn’t describe the plot any further assuming you have not seen it, for it would only ruin the joy that is found in this film. Let’s just say at one point people die, and that brings in Marge Gunderson, a police chief who is very much pregnant, yet very much determined to find the culprits of this crime. She is played by Frances McDormand in her best performance, a woman of such morality that it contrasts nearly every other character in the film. This film is filled with those who are scheming, stealing and murdering, and in the center is this innocent pregnant woman in a very happy marriage to her husband Norm, played by John Carroll Lynch. This is the second straight film I’ve written on with Lynch, but here he is playing a character much more sympathetic than, say, a serial killer.

It’s tremendous fun just to listen to these characters speak, for the Coens, like few others, are able to perfectly capture the way every character in their world speaks. An early scene has the Lundgaards around the table eating dinner, and that is one of the most impressively written scenes in the film, simply because of the realism that is presented. It is nothing new to hear banter between two hitmen before a job (see: Pulp Fiction) but here it is not so much stylish as it is mundane, and is it ever beautifully mundane. The film takes place mostly in Minnesota, and the accents are so exaggerated that they feel perfect. (You betcha, yah!)

William H. Macy plays Jerry as a man who thinks he has a plan, but has no idea. He is blindsided at every turn by a development that did not go his way, but so naïve is this man that he pushes through convinced everything will be alright. There comes a moment towards the end when he realizes it isn’t going to be fine, and Jerry stumbles and bumbles his way around in a hilarious panic. The hitmen here a played by the always awesome Steve Buscemi, and designated scary-looking guy Peter Stormare. These men have no interest in each other, and could not be more different in their methods, and what ultimately results is inevitable.

As with most Coen films, the environment in which the story is based is very much a character in itself. The land these characters occupy is a desert of snow, a certifiable tundra. It is a land so lacking in personality and color that every character appears lonely and without any human connection. For the film's entirety we are watching some of the worst people in the world at work. That is what makes Marge’s relationship with her husband so effective. In world so cold and low in positivity, they live in their own little bubble of happiness. If there is a theme to be found in most Coen films, it's that the world is an ugly place and one should relish any rays of hope that go their way.

I realize as I describe this film it may sound like a comedy. Well, it is but it isn’t. That actually is a very apt way of describing any Coen brothers movie. It is, but it isn’t. Just take a look at some of their other films such as The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, or A Serious Man. All of these movies are funny, but they are also violent, tragic, and ultimately powerful. But why are they powerful? That means there must be an ultimate meaning right? Wrong, but maybe. The themes of a Coen brothers film are so universal they can seem nonexistent. As I said at the beginning, everything they’ve done is about nothing and everything at the same time.

The film begins claiming it is based on a true story. Anyone with an internet connection can easily find out that isn’t true. (And since you're reading a blog, my bet is you have one.) Why provide the disclaimer? The Coens have said they wanted to make a film based on a true story, but they couldn't find a good one, so they made one up. It is a true story, just not based on any reality. As a result what they’ve given us is one of the most vividly realized, thrilling, humorous, and just all around entertaining films I’ve seen.