A Hero with a Heart

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2003)

Fargo comes with the works. A wonderfully original and quirky script by Joel and Ethan Cohen which at the same time is more accessible, sensible, and down to earth than any one of their other films. Fargo is not a cult classic it is a mainstream triumph. With precise and vivid photography by Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Kundun, Dinner With Friends, The Hurricane and numerous Cohen brothers' films). Great performances from Steve Buscemi, Frances McDormand and William H. Macy. And relatively unique editing that was actually written into the script, at times the Cohen brothers employ hard cuts to black which breaks up the rhythm and extraordinarily makes you think. However, it is really Frances McDormand's performance that gives this film its strength. In my opinion a strange thing has happened with Fargo. From time to time there is a film that is a great film, but catches on for the wrong reasons. Many people talked about Fargo as a comedy which it certainly was not despite a comic touch that exists throughout the Cohen brtohers' work. Others went around acting like fools saying ya, oh ya, you bet, and real good then, as if the unusual accents were what made the film distinctive. What makes this film brilliant is not the funny accents, the quirky characteristics, the offbeat manners. For me the greatness of this film is revealed in the last couple of scenes. (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!) When Marge finds Grimsrud and is put in harm's way by doing her job I can not think of a more gripping anxiety filled scene. Honestly when was the last time that there was a chase scene where you were really emotionally invested in what was taking place? Then in the car when Marge talks to the automatonic Grimsrud you are glad and relieved that for once with all do respect to Dirty Harry that it is a normal, kind hearted, well adjusted, affable human being who has captured this monster so that we may receive catharsis through her words of insight which are uniquely similar to what most of us would say. It is as if Marge is articulating what we have often thought or even said, but lacked a pulpit to preach from and a congregation to preach to. That scene near the end of the film when we are in the car with Marge and Grimsrud to me is more than a catharsis though, it is an indictment of the loss of American values, it is an indictment of our seemingly insatiable appetite for gratuitous blood and mindless violence, and our propensity for greed. When Marge says, 'and for what for a little money. There's more to life than a little money you know,' you feel as if something has been restored and lost at the same time. Marge would be seen by many as a sentimental character, but that is because the world has grown cynical. Is she oversimplifying in that scene? No she's right and we're the ones who are lost. That is if you believe films like dreams are keys to our unconscious and indicative of our true fears and desires.