Customer Reviews

Fargo (Special Edition)

5 star:		(132)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

When the Coen brothers introduced their first film to the public and we saw their honesty and
quirkyness, coupled with their unique way of telling a story, we were hooked. Their way is not
for everyone, but for those of us who share their outlook on the way some people deal with the
circunstances in which they find themselves, their films are fascinating, Illuminating, and
entertaining as hell. Macy is perfect. McDormand is delightful, Buscemi and Storemare hilarious
and frightening. When l saw the interviews that accompanied the video, l was knocked out to hear
Storemare played HAMLET- Wow! what a range! In my opinion this is right up there with Raising
Arizona.

To me, Fargo is wildly disjointed. It tells approximately three stories. But only one of these stories has a likable, humane character deserving of interest or sympathy. Because the emotional investment is so much greater in one story than in the others, the film cannot achieve a satisfying collective. However, there is so much good in this film that despite my overall lack of satisfaction, I feel that it is important and relevant.

The engrossing story I'm referring to is the one of Marge (Frances McDormand) a character so fascinating and so well-played by McDormand that the screen feels devoid of life during scenes she is not in. She is a small-town cop- pregnant and consequently and unapologetically a big eater. She is also smart and witty, but inexplicably (and this is where an intriguing, mysterious element plays in) devoted to her dull but loving husband, Norm. She is kind and humane to the people around her. And when she investigates the grisly highway murders of a traveling family, she responds to it as a cop and a human being. Marge is clearly the best story- the most involving and with the most nuance. I wish the Coens had decided to make one movie about Marge.

Unfortunately, Marge shares screen time with two stories connected to the highway crime: One involving Jerry (William H. Macy) a possible orchestrator, and another involving the actual murderers themselves: Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaer (Peter Stormare).

The story of Jerry evolves into miscalculation. As a portrait of male desperation and middle class idealism, I found all of his initial scenes weighted with a sad but potent social commentary. However, towards the end of the film, Jerry develops into a monster with no compassion for anyone- his cheery malevolence played to comic effect. I chortled but I didn't feel. No longer did his story seem like the lost American dream; Jerry was a cruel schmuck who got what he deserved. Stripping Jerry of his humanity is the biggest miscalculation of the film.

The story of Graer and Carl is highly disturbing, gratuitously sexual, and funny in a way that makes a laugh seem like the ugliest emotion you have. There *is* one moment of true, unbridled hilarity: a beautifully observed scene where Carl pestures Graer in a car...the context of menace, boredom, and attempted friendship creates a deliciously anxious scene of dialogue. The rest plays out like a horror comedy, with Graer and Carl losing any facade of human emotion and turning into comic book characters of exaggerrated and violent evil.

The movie beckons the question: can violence be funny? I think it can but only if it is used as a medium for a larger point- not the point itself. In Pulp Fiction, when Bruce Willis's Butch searches for the largest weapon to save his mortal enemy, it is a powerful, funny touching moment, not just because he moves from a bat to a samurai sword, but because he's ironically coming to terms with his own humanity for his enemy via an act of violence. In Fargo, when Carl's legs protrude out of a wood chipper, it feels like empty shock.

My qualms with the film's essentials should not be taken lightly, but neither should the breathtaking beauty of its technique. The Coens employ gorgeous music by Carter Burwell. The opening credit, beautiful and tragic, simply walloped me. And the cinematography of Roger Deakins is pitch-perfect. I can't stress how beautiful this movie is on an aesthetic level. I just wish that the Coens had trusted Marge and the vision she represented. Then they could have made a truly great film.

The crime in the Coen Brother's film FARGO has to have been the worst executed crime in the history of cinema. It's flawed from the very beginning. It's a good thing that the movie isn't the same way; it's possibly one of the best-executed films of the last 25 years.

I've always been a [fan] for strong character dramas. Plot is inconsequential to me for the most part. I always look at it as that added bonus if a plot really grabs me. I just realize that most stories operate on the same seven or eight premises. So it is the characters that save them. FARGO is full of great characters.

The film opens in Fargo, North Dakota, at a shady trucker bar. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macey, Panic) is there to meet Carl (Steve Buscemi, Con Air) --a low rent, funny looking crook. Carl is there with another man named Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare, The Big Lebowski), a tall, silent and scary looking crook. Jerry drops off a car and sets a crime into motion. The two crooks are to kidnap Jerry's wife (Kristen Rudrud, Pleasantville) and hold her for ransom. Jerry is trying to embezzle money from his well-to-do father in law Wade (Harve Presnell, Face/Off), who is a real [fool].

Needless to say, what should be a simple crime goes terribly wrong. When three people show up dead in a small town called Brainerd, the local sheriff, Marge Gunderson (Francis McDormand, The Man Who Wasn't There) get on the case.

What Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted here is a drama of such life and scope. It's not simply about a crime. It's about people living their lives at a moment in time. There are scenes in this film that are unnecessary to the plot that are completely necessary for these characters.

Take for instance, the intimate scene in a hotel resturant in Fargo. Marge is met by an old high school chum, named Mike Yanagita, (Steve Park, and TOYS). He invites her to the hotel to seduce her. He's so bad at it that he makes up stories to try to win her over. She's so sympathetic, to this mans needs, but also wary of his advances. Any other film, this scene would probably be cut, it sure doesn't move the story along. But it paints a clearer picture of just who Marge really is; it's vital to the evolution of her character. It's perfect.

There is another brilliant sequence near the beginning of the film where Jerry has just told Wade about a great land deal he has in the works. Heï¿s hoping Wade will give him the money. When the meeting takes a decidedly different turn there is a single shot of Jerry walking back to his car. It's so sad. Itï¿s so heartbreaking. You sympathize with and for Jerry. Itï¿s reminds me of that scene in TAXI DRIVER, where Travis hangs up the phone after being rejected by Betsey and the camera pans away to the empty hallway, very effective both times.

Francis McDormand is perfect as Marge. She embodies even the pregnant suit she wears through the entire film. I donï¿t know why Marge has to be pregnant; the film would work without her being that way. But that again is one of those small character beats that makes FARGO a film worth watching.

Another interesting device the Coen Bros. use is a small title screen at the beginning stating that the film is in fact a true story. In all honesty it isn't. But what that allows the film to do is work in the realm of the real. Sure the film is a work of fiction, but still there is a feeling of authenticity that little title allows. Honestly the first time I saw FARGO, I thought it was a true story, and I believed it throughout the entirety of the film.

Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare make great crooks. In any bad film these two characters would be bumbling [fools]. Neither one is terribly smart, but there is certain finesse to there performances. I particularly liked the early scene where Buscemi's character Carl tries to stop talking to show Stomare's Grimsrud he can play the silent game. Of course Carl can't shut up, so he winds up talking to himself.

After reading this review your probably thinking this is a drama. But the AFI listed it as one of the 100 greatest comedies. How does that add up? Well, life is sometimes really funny; sometimes you hear a joke and you can't help laughing. FARGO is a comedy of situation. Marge for instance is a naturally funny person, so she'll tell a joke. She's sweet and good hearted and so are the people she works with. So naturally funny things will happen.

FARGO is a great movie. Well worth 95 minutes of anyone's life. It's a slice of life comedy, set against a gritty and horrible crime. It's a human character study. FARGO is one of the best movies ever made. I love FARGO. ...

I expected Fargo to be a light hearted comedy that was set in the midwest. The movie not only was funny but it was thrilling and violent as well. The movie was good, very good actually. Frances McDormand did a wonderful job playing Marge the pregnant police officer. All the other performances are great including Steve Buschemi's as the ransomer of William H. Macy's wife. The plot is very gripping and the low score and cinematography was good too. I highly reccomend this film.

I was surprised how quickly the DVD arrived. The timing was great as I was just leaving to go to my cottage. Guests who came up that weekend were able to enjoy the movie with me. All within a few short days from placing the order!

Fargo (drama, crime, thriller)
Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1996 | 98 min | Rated R | Released May 12, 2009

Video:
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
French: DTS 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified and Traditional), Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish

Disc:
Single 50GB Blu-ray Disc

The Film 5/5

The first time I watched Fargo, I didn't know what to expect. After multiple viewings, it's still hard to pin down exactly what the film is. There's a bizarre plot focusing on Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) who works for his father-in-law's car dealership. Without ever learning why, we are told that Jerry needs money. His plan is to hire two men he has never met to kidnap his wife. He'll pay them $40,000, but he'll tell his father-in-law, Wade, that the ransom is $1,000,000. It's a simple enough plan.

Jerry's true nature is revealed early in the film when he openly lies to a customer. The two men he has hired are Carl Showalter (Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare). Buscemi plays the same type of character that he played in Reservoir Dogs, talking continually, whining and cracking jokes. Stormare barely speaks, but springs into action when he feels the situation demands it.

The plot unfolds with Jerry trying and failing to borrow $750,000 from Wade for a business opportunity. Carl and Gaear make their way into town and eventually get around to abducting Jerry's wife. It's here that Jerry's plan starts to go wrong. A cop pulls over Carl and Gaear while they have Jerry's wife tied up on the back seat of the car. Carl fails to recover the situation so Gaear kills the cop and a couple of witnesses.

After the triple-murder, the third main character is introduced. She's Marge Gunderson, a pregnant Police Chief. It's 33 minutes before her character appears, but it seems like she holds the film together. While appearing a little slow and dorky, she's actually highly-intelligent and intuitive. She quickly reconstructs the crime scene and realizes how the triple-murder happened.

Marge's intellect means that she's respected by the officers she works with, but her seemingly normal demeanor isn't threatening and the people she interviews are caught off guard. She also gives the film balance during the scenes with Norm (John Carroll Lynch), her husband. They have a wonderful relationship and each accepts the other for exactly what they are. The contrast between Marge's life at home and the way she performs at work is startling.

Jerry receives a visit from Marge at work, but manages to deflect her questions and she leaves without suspecting him. Later, we see a crucial scene where she meets an old acquaintance from school. He blatantly lies about his life and Marge leaves with a sense of unease. It's a reminder that people don't always tell the truth and she decides to visit Jerry again.

One of the funniest things about the film is Jerry. He's pretty dumb and almost every word that leaves his mouth is a lie. But Macy talks about the character in the special features and notes that Jerry never gives up. One disaster follows another, but he always revises his plan and believes that he can pull it off. It's interesting to see what he'll try next.

The film's supporting cast is full of intriguing characters. Wade insists on delivering the ransom money himself and that's exactly what someone with his personality would do. Marge interviews some hookers who spent an evening with Carl and Gaear and there's a funny exchange: She learns that one of the men was kinda funny looking. She presses for more information and is told that he wasn't circumcised. The film is full of this kind of dark humor.

There's quite a bit of violence, but it is confined to short bursts. I counted seven murders in all, but the quirky humor and tongue-in-cheek presentation never make the violent scenes too jarring. This is a film that should be viewed as a dark comedy more than anything.

Marge's closing monologue is simple and effective; it asks us to contemplate why people commit crimes and puts things into perspective somewhat. McDormand won an Oscar for her performance and thoroughly deserved it. Macy was also nominated and the film's screenplay was given another Oscar.

Video Quality 4/5
Roger Deakins' cinematography perfectly captures the desolate scenery and the Blu-ray presentation is pleasing to the eye. Detail is strong, and the ever-present grain is never too heavy. There are a few white speckles at the beginning of the film, but the image quickly improves. The upgrade over the DVD is easily worth the price of the Blu-ray.

Audio Quality 4.5/5
Although there's a lot of dialogue, the supporting sound effects are an important part of the film. It's particularly evident when the characters walk in the compacted snow and we hear a pleasing crunch. When shots are fired, they ring out clearly. Most of the track is front-heavy, but that's where most of the action is. The violin used in the score is particularly effective.

Special Features 2.5/5

The features are all presented in standard definition.

Commentary with Director of Photography Roger Deakins

Minnesota Nice Documentary (27:47) - The Coen brothers and main cast talk about the film, likening Minnesota to Siberia with family restaurants. Learn what the actors thought of their roles and how they enjoyed working with the directors.

Photo Gallery - Stills from the shoot.

Theatrical Trailer (1:58)

TV Spot (0:31)

American Cinematography Article - A series of stills discussing the work of Roger Deakins.

Fargo is an odd film. It grabs your interest early and slowly increases the tension as the story unfolds. You'll see a glimpse of what life might be like in small-town America, and you'll laugh. The Coen brothers have made some very good films and a couple of great ones. This falls into the second category. The Blu-ray presentation is a good upgrade and I strongly recommend the film itself.

Overall score 5/5

I never really thought much of this movie based on the short clips of it that I've seen, and managed to avoid it until a short while ago, when I came across the video for sale for a loonie and for some reason decided to buy it. Needless to say, it was better than I had expected, although it was rather on the grim side. It amazes me somethimes how flippant American culture can be about such brutality. I wonder if the people responsible for this movie realize the fact that these kinds of movies normalize this kind of behaviour. But what do they care, in the end it will only given them or other Hollywood-types more "actual events" to base movies on.

And Macy should have won best actor and Buscemi best supporting actor. But then the Oscars are just one big commercial and have nothing to do with quality.

Fargo is another fine movie from the Coen Brothers. Uncompromising, grusome at times, wonderful character study and hilarious. Looks at how ordinary everyday people react to very unordinary circumstances and Macy is a study in how someone reacts when they get in way over their heads. GREAT MOVIE

Fargo fits into a tiny crack between popcorn flick and truly interesting, and not just because it's based on a true story. It feels the right amount of homely and immersing to be just another irrelevent kidnapping "drama", all the while keeping its simplistic "movie feel".

The story is told from mutliple perspectives of the main characters. A less-than-successful car salesman Jerry Lundegaard [Macy] agrees to pay two crooks, Carl Showalter [Buscemi] and Gaear Grimsrud [Stormare] to kidnap his wife Jean [Rudrüd]. But along the way, complications happen and the body count rises as Lundegaard and his two hired crooks try, unsuccesfully, to follow through on their plan. Through this, we meet the primary character, or the one whose perspective we look through most--Marge Gunderson [MacDormand], a 7-months-pregnant police officer who takes it upon herself to figure out the situation.

Fargo has more of a small town murder investigation plot than a dramatic something-isn't-quite-right kidnapping focus, which does nothing to worsen the quality of the overall storyline and how it plays out, but there are points where you can spot editing errors and total blandness, but the movie itself is shorter than you would expect and manages to work in such an innovative take on the genre to the frame. The acting is done well and is completely convincing, and the good direction goes hand-in-hand with it. As mentioned, there are spots were the script could be better done, but so much whereas it takes away from the feel of the movie.

i SAW THIS MOVIE ONLY TWICE. The first
time I was drunk i also love guys but holes , the second time i was giving birth and the third tme I WAS IN THE LOCAL JOINT FOR STRONG BODY ODOR ROBBERY. I think that thisd movie was so extremely sad that i was laughing for three hours as i swallowed my underarm deoderant tablets.buy this movie now its good