Another jewel from the Coens

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2015)

This movie opens with the words "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." I never challenged these words, but apparently no such incidents as depicted in this film ever occurred. The movie plays out quite believably - A middle-class car salesman gets in over his head financially by embezzling from his employer, thinking that the business deals he is making with the money will allow him to replace the stolen goods before he is detected. When his schemes don't pan out he must find a way to replace the money. The salesman's father-in-law - and employer - is wealthy but distant and indifferent towards him, so he hatches a plan to fake his wife's kidnapping with the help of two felons he doesn't know at all who are "vouched for" by an ex-con mechanic that works at the same dealership he works for. He figures his father-in-law will pay the ransom, he'll split it with the felons, and his problems will be solved. This is not to be the case. It turns out that these felons are more violent and uncontrollable than the salesman counted on, and they leave quite a body count in their wake. Also, in another clever twist, what becomes of the ransom money over which so many greedy people in the film have fought and died is quite ironic to say the least. Although I wouldn't exactly say we read this story in the paper everyday, we all have read something similar - someone who has lived an ordinary life for several decades suddenly gets tempted into some criminal activity that quickly escalates out of control.
The person who unravels the mystery of the crimes is the most unstereotypical of police officers - Marge Gunderson. She is the extremely pregnant chief of police in the small town where the first murders occur, and her combination of brains and folksy charm masterfully handle witnesses and trace the crime back to the car salesman and his dealership.
I've never been to Minnesota, but if the Coens' rendition of that state and its people was as spot-on as their parody of the American southwest in "Raising Arizona", then they have really done their research. I highly recommend it.