Fargo Movie Review 1996

Another malicious, extra-dark comedy from the Coen brothers. Car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) hires a couple of losers to kidnap his wife so he can swindle the ransom money out of his father-in-law. Naturally, the scheme begins to unravel and the very pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson (McDormand) treks through the frozen tundra of Minnesota to put the pieces of the puzzle together. McDormand's performance as the chatty competent chief is first rate. Needling the flat-accented Midwesterners of their youth, the Coens have also returned to their filmmaking roots after the disappointing big-budget "Hudsucker Proxy." Because Minneapolis was having its warmest, driest winter in 100 years, the Coens were forced to shoot most of the exteriors in wintery North Dakota.

Distribution

USA Home Entertainment, 1 W. Forest, Englewood, NJ 07631-4004, Phone: (201)871-1000, URL: http://www.polygram-us.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 97 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Black Comedy, Kidnapped!, Disorganized Crime, Scams, Stings & Cons, Pregnant Pauses, Women Cops, Minnesota

Screenplay

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Cast

William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell, Steve Reevis, John Carroll Lynch, Kristin Rudrud, Steve Park, Jose Feliciano

Cinematography

Roger Deakins

Director

Joel Coen

Music

Carter Burwell

Producer

Ethan Coen, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Working Title Productions, Gramercy Pictures

Awards

Oscars 1996: Actress (McDormand), Orig. Screenplay; AFI 1998: Top 100; Australian Film Inst. 1996: Foreign Film; British Acad. 1996: Director (Coen); Cannes 1996: Director (Coen); Ind. Spirit 1997: Actor (Macy), Actress (McDormand), Cinematog., Director (Coen), Film, Screenplay; Natl. Bd. of Review 1996: Actress (McDormand), Director (Coen); N.Y. Film Critics 1996: Film; Screen Actors Guild 1996: Actress (McDormand); Writers Guild 1996: Orig. Screenplay; Broadcast Film Critics 1996: Actress (McDormand), Film.