FARGO
A Trashing by Rigor Mortis Copyright ) 1997 Rigor Mortis
Joel and Ethan Coen make good movies, not great ones. Some are very good and others just pretty good, but none are masterpieces, and, consequently, FARGO is by no means the masterpiece it has been hailed as. I saw it for the first time on Cable recently. Having my doubts, I refused to shell out seven dollars to see it in a theater, and I'm glad I didn't because the resulting experience was a quite ordinary and unmemorable one. The film can't seem to decide what it wants to be and fails on all levels as a result: for a serious movie it's not serious enough and strangely structured; for a black comedy it's more disturbing and pathetic than dark and wicked; for a quirky comedy it isn't very quirky; and, for a straight comedy it's too gory and just not particularly funny. The 'fresh and intelligent' dialogue I've heard critics gush over is really pretty ordinary, and littered with the obligatory profanity necessary to jazz up lame dialogue. And, when all is said and done, you're left with the empty feeling of having been mildly entertained by something that's completely pointless, without even the satisfaction that comes with a solid crime drama that ties up all the loose ends: What became of the suitcase full of cash that Steve Buscemi buried in the snow? What'll happen to William H. Macy's son now that he no longer has a family? And, what about the Japanese guy? What was he even doing in that film in the first place? Who knows? Then again, who cares? Frances McDormand's performance is not Oscar caliber. Her character is one-dimensional and kept interesting (slightly) by a gimmick. She smiles constantly and says 'yah' and 'you betcha', and critics who had never seen and heard this before were fooled into believing it was some sort of stroke of genius (William H. Macy delivers the film's best performance but even it gets tiresome and gimmicky after a while). But, there's a more obvious reason for McDormand's winning for Best Actress that represents the film's biggest gimmick, which critics and the Academy alike fell for hook, line and sinker. McDormand is a female cop (1 point) who just happens to be pregnant (2 points) and who wears the pants in her family (3 points--automatic granting of an award). It doesn't matter that this situation is absurd and illogical as long as it gives the impression of 'empowering' women and not the opposite. The Coen brothers, although they deny it, are clearly making a feminist statement, but not a very good one. They don't put McDormand into any situations that challenge her condition. Her capture of the psychotic kidnapper at the end is a little too easy. Given the things he did to other people throughout the picture, imagine what he could've done to her, and the danger that she puts her baby in everyday. But, that aspect is never mentioned because it doesn't matter either. Society is not going to keep her down, no man is going to keep her down and, by God, neither is the biological function of reproduction, no matter what the possible consequences because she's an Independent Woman. You go girl! The Coens are preaching to the converted, the blinded who don't have to be convinced of anything that fits into their agenda, and who won't accept anything that shatters their illusions, however truthful it may be. Siskel and Ebert both chose FARGO as the best film of 1996, which shows just how hard people--especially politically correct people--fell for its gimmicks when the truth of the matter is that it's a **1/2 movie at best and not even as good as the Coens' RAISING ARIZONA or another, similar film, RED ROCK WEST.
Rigor Mortis
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