FARGO
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
Living as we do in a crazy world, the weirder the story, the more likely it is to be true. Put the story in the hands of the Coen brothers and we get a reality-based film that is quirky, funny and still believable. This one takes place in Minnesota in 1987. Beautiful snow with photography by Britain's Roger Deakins.
Jerry Lundegaard (William H Macy) is the business manager of an auto sales company. Business has been so poor that he is in dire straits, needing money badly enough to come up with the idea of hiring a couple of thugs (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap the wife he loves. She will be held for ransom, unhurt, while Jerry will hit up his wealthy father-in-law, Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell) for the money to pay the kidnappers. The kidnappers and Jerry will split the ransom.
A few mishaps and the whole scheme falls apart when several people get shot. This brings in the local police chief, Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) who is several months pregnant. She can still say "Yah" (for "yes") with the best of them. While everyone in the cast is more than adequate (especially Macy), it is McDormand who runs away with the film.
Directed by Joel Coen
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Ben Hoffman
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