Over-rated but still better than most...

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 1999)

The Coen Brothers can take the simplest plot ideas and weave truly magical movies. Raising Arizona, Blood Simple and the Hudsucker Proxy manage this concept, but Fargo just falls short in some respects. However, that shouldn't detract from what is essentially an extremely well crafted character study.
The real key to making this movie work is in the inspired casting. I didn't rate William Macy that much until I seen him in this movie, and he pulls off a performance that really makes you believe in his own predicament and one that should have received more recognition. While the cast are well above average, the movie is really stolen by Frances McDormand, finally bagging a deserved oscar in the process.
The only real problems with this movie lie in the pacing, which at times drags the movie down a notch or two. In addition, some scenes seemed out of place and felt added in as a sideshow.
Nevertheless, the Coen Brothers always make enjoyable movies, films that while some regard as slow-moving, others can manage to find a depth that is lacking from most movies these days.
8/10.