Virtue Triumphant

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2001)

It's hard to find something new to say about this film after so many comments have already been posted here. I'll own up to being one of the crowd who claim that it's close to flawless.
So what I'd like to highlight is this: Frances McDormand's portrayal of the police chief Marge Gunderson strikes me as being one of the best depictions of a wholly good person that I've seen on screen. It would have been so easy for the script to have given her a raft of inner demons to overcome or a corrupt PD to fight or mounds of frustrating paperwork to do. All old stuff - seen it dozens of times. But no - Marge lives a comfortable but not wealthy life, she has a husband whom she loves and who loves her and she possesses the kind of natural trust in people which allows her to be deceived by an old school friend because, heck, why would he lie to her? But Marge is trusting, not gullible; she lives a simple life, but she's not simple; she's gentle with people, but she's not a doormat.
It's just so refreshing to find a character who demonstrates that good doesn't equal stupid and that nice guys don't have to finish last.