Subtly effective

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2006)

I finally got a chance to see, well, most of this movie. I missed the first few minutes, but now understand what all the acclaim has been about.
It's easy to look at Frances McDormand's performance and draw the superficial conclusion that this is going to be some silly comedy, especially if you saw her in Raising Arizona. But there's a much deeper story here, some very profound collaboration in terms of the "meaning" of the story and the way it is brought to the screen.
There are plenty of comedic elements, including the "dumb and dumber" kidnappers and William H. Macy as the desperate loser. Some of the dialect may or may not be laid on a tad too thick -- endless streams of "yah...yah...yah...". Still, the essence of the movie is felt in the scenes where McDormand is patiently driving her police "prowler" through the never-ending snow. Especially at the end, when she remarks, "...and it's a beautiful day." For the moviegoer who is unfamiliar with the colder, quieter parts of the country and the people who inhabit it, it can take awhile to sink in. This story is about the decent folks all around us, the ones we never see on Entertainment Tonight, who live quiet, unassuming lives and still manage to elevate themselves to lofty heights by virtue of their simple understanding of what is right and what is wrong. McDormand's Marge Gunderson is 7 months pregnant, and yet she slogs uncomplainingly through the snow to examine crime scenes. She risks her neck daily; yet, she cheers on her painter husband when his portrait is accepted by the Post Office to be depicted on a 2-cent stamp. She is listening to an old boyfriend's sob story one afternoon, and shooting a wood-chipper murderer in the leg the next.
This really is an awesome film. Take away the bombast and testosterone in CSI or 24, and this is what police work is really all about.
CR04