the coens at their best

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2004)

I'm a huge fan of the coens, and when I saw this movie this christmas, I was not dissapointed. As a 14 year old, one might think this movie's subtle humor and nuances and relatively relaxed pace may bore my agegroup, but I believe that this movie has a little something for everyone. SPOILER!!!!!! From the beautiful scenery and ND/MN winter, to Steve Buscemi's fateful scene of being fed through the wood chipper, this is truly the coen's masterpiece. Frances Mcdormand does a beautiful job as margie, the (very) pregnant cop in perpetual marital bliss. She does a great job throughout, culminating with her "for a little bit o' money" righteous speech. William H. Macy, one of the most underappreciated actors in hollywood in my opinion, does an extraordinary job exploring the complex role of a desperate man pushed to a seemingly innocent crime, the whole time with a heavy northern midwest accent. The Coens pepper the entire thing with wonderfully subtle humour, from Mcdormand's talk to an old high school classmate to many quiet bloody jokes. The brothers directing is as usual outstanding, their intuition shines through. My favorite character of this movie is Steve Buscemi's. His foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, just me character is one of the best roles I have seen in any movie in my life. There's simply no way to describe his masterful performance that will do him service. the cream of the crop. 10/10