I'm not gonna debate you...

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2001)

This darkly comic tale from the Coen brothers is arguably their finest piece of work to date. They apply their trademark quirky style to the not entirely original plot of a car salesman who arranges his own wife's kidnapping in order to get the ransom money from his scrooge-like father-in-law. However, the simplicity of the plot allows you to concentrate on the most important part of the film, the carefully crafted characters, each with their own idoesyncrasies that make it a delight to see which strange creation will appear in the next scene.
These are perfectly realised by a fantastic cast of actors. While credit must go to the ever-dependable Steve Buscemi as the bungling kidnapper and William H. Macy as the salesman full of frustration and impotent rage, the best performance is by Frances McDormand, who deservedly won an Oscar as the heavily pregnant sheriff trying to solve the crime. The only main female character in the film, she is surrounded by a succession of increasingly more pathetic men, from her househusband, to an old school friend who still lives with his parents. Even the crime itself lurches from one disaster to another as events conspire to make a seemingly straightforward kidnapping escalate into a multiple homicide. The unfamiliar location of Dakota provides some great backdrops and spectacularly barren vistas and the snow somehow adds to the absurdity of the whole situation. Also adding to the comedy element are the unusual local accents which are seemlessly adopted by the cast and if you don't find yourself mimicking a Minnesotan for a few days after seeing 'Fargo' then you really ought to visit a doctor to see about getting that funny bone removed, it's obviously not working right.