FARGO
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
**** (out of 4 = excellent) 1996, R, 98 minutes [1 hour, 38 minutes] [crime/satire] Starring: Frances McDormand (Marge Gundersund), William H. Macy (Jerry Lundergaard), Steve Buscemi (Carl Showalter), Harve Presnell (Wade Gustafson), Peter Stormare (Gaear Grimsrud), produced by Ethan Coen, written by Ethan and Joel Coen, directed by Joel Coen.
If I had to choose one word to describe "Fargo" it would be difficult (literally); it's difficult to classify its genre, it's difficult to describe its plot, and most of all it's difficult to explain why it's such an excellent film. The Coen brothers have once again captured that sense of the surreal and this time have made it very mainstream, so that as strange as this film becomes, we never question its logic. William H. Macy stars as Jerry Lundergaard, a bad car salesman who is desperate for money and is really pathetic because he is such a bad liar and not very smart either. The story starts out simple enough as Jerry hires two goons (in the most literal sense of the term) to kidnap his wife so that when her father pays the ransom they can split it. Steve Buscemi is hilarious as Carl Showalter, the slightly smarter of the two goons, while Peter Stormare is also quite funny as nearly mute Gaear Grimsrud. The film doesn't put itself forward as any kind of serious, disturbing tale of greed and crime, but more of a lighthearted drama with overtones of satire. For example, as Carl and Gaear drive, they have a funny argument over where to eat. Gaear says, "We stop for pancakes," Carl tells him that they're going to stop for a steak, but then slowly caves to his partner's demands even though he hasn't said anything. The story starts to get a little choppy and confusing concerning Jerry's deals with his distributor and his father-in-law's investment into a parking lot system he has organized. Meanwhile, the goons are having a bit of trouble themselves when they are pulled over by a cop for not having tags on their licence plates. The scene ends in a triple homicide, and we are then introduced to Brainerd Police Chief Marge Gundersund, played perfectly by Frances McDormand with terrific charm. She seems more like a housewife that happens to be a police officer than vice versa. Marge starts to put the pieces together with very little clues and it is quite interesting to watch this type of a story element in a movie that is the furthest thing from a Hollywood mystery. >From this point on the plot becomes irrelevant and it is a complete and total exercise in character study and storytelling. The atmosphere of the mid-western setting is pure satire in and of itself, because everyone seems so innocent and naive, saying "Yah" and "'The heck ya mean?" all the time. Even Jerry's son has a poster of Whitesnake next to "The Accordion King." It is the storytelling process that makes the film so excellent. Yes, there have been other films of more complex storyline involving detective work and crime, et cetera, but here it is completely different because the story never takes itself too seriously. "Fargo" is an example of great filmmaking in all aspects: original plot; great acting; good scripting; and excellent direction that brings it all together and makes it so breezy and enjoyable. This is one of those films that you like even though you have no idea why.
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